Life Among The Dead
by CruelRuin
Summary: A retelling of the events of 'Highschool of the dead' through the eyes of an OC. Hisashi survives and Takashi finds someone else. The story will contain the original story (few changes) plus a completely new arc added after the original story ends. TakashixSaeko, HiranoxSaya, OCxYuukixOC2
1. Chapter 1

**Life among the dead**

**A 'High school of the dead' Fanfiction.**

He had been sitting on the roof for hours, smoking his way to oblivion, his usual morning routine in Fujimi Academy, he hated the place, and it had just been a few weeks since he had moved back to Japan, figures. Living in the States was so much more fulfilling. At least no one there gave a fuck no matter what he did with his life. Public schools were like that. Fujimi on the other hand, focused on 'Total Education' which included personality development and whatnot. What a bunch of shit, like they expected that to stop him from cutting class.

He was startled as the door to the roof opened. In his few weeks here, he had realized that no one ever came to the school roof, except for the astronomy club, who gathered in the night. Praying to the stars like a cult. It gave him shivers just thinking about it, a group of evil stargazers. Yeah right.

A junior walked through the door; this was the Takashi Komuro guy everyone was talking about. The guy looked absolutely devastated; being dumped does that to you. The guy slowly walked over to the railing of the roof, he leaned down on the railing, and yeah that's totally safe, no need to worry about tripping or anything. Takashi seemed to be talking to himself 'Pinky promise…what a load of bull, cross your heart and hope to die'.

'Dude, if you are thinking of committing suicide, it won't happen on my watch.' Takashi almost jumped out of his skin hearing that, combined with his try at turning around, made him loose his balance and fall back. He closed his eyes, expecting his body to plummet off the roof and into the ground below, but his feet never left the ground. A hand was around his shoulders, stopping him from falling down. Takashi regained his senses and looked up at his savior.

It was a guy in the third year, he was tall, and he had shoulder length silver hair that fell into his eyes. There was a cigarette in his other hand. He seemed athletic, which explained how he had crossed half the roof in less than a second. He looked like one of them guys that appear on men's fashion magazines.

'Thanks. You are the transfer student, Bakyura, right?' Takashi blurted out. He thought that the roof was always empty, so why was this guy here? Bakyura looked at him with a cold expression, 'Yeah, that's me. And you are that loverboy Takashi Komuro, aren't you? Listen up kid, no matter how good an ex may be, there are always better fishes out there, so don't go killing yourself just yet.'

'Ahhhh, I didn't come here to kill myself, I just didn't want to sit in the same class with her and her new boyfriend. Just being around them sickens me.' Takashi spat. He was filled with anger. 'I loved her, yet she left me, that too for my best friend.' Bakyura offered his cigarette to Takashi, who hesitated a bit before taking it. He smoked in, just to end up coughing. Bakyura couldn't help but chuckle.

*CLANK*

A sudden noise drew the attention of the two teens, they looked at the school gate, and someone was standing there, trying to get in. It was a single guy, banging at the gate.

'Is that idiot trying to get IN? I'd bloody pay him to exchange positions with me.' Bakyura spoke, Takashi looked as three teachers walked up to the guy. The guy outside the school gate didn't look…normal. 'He looks like he's really tired, or injured.' Takashi spoke. Bakyura put his cigarette to his mouth and inhaled a puff. 'This might get ugly.'

Takashi saw what Bakyura meant, three of the school teachers were moving towards the gate, a knuckleheaded teacher, trying to show off to the female teacher behind him, tried to use force on the guy on the other side. The guy on the other side got his face rammed into the gate, but he quickly pulled back and bit a sizable chunk out of the Knuckleheaded teacher. Who fell back, screaming so loud that you could hear him across three blocks. He lay still for a moment, and then in a flash, he got up and bit the female teacher in the neck.

'There goes another A-grade MILF; I seem to have fucking bad luck.' Bakyura commented, he was grossed out by what was happening, but a simple look at Takashi told him that worrying would make matters worse here.

'WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?' Takashi yelled, taking a few steps back from the edge of the roof. He was visibly panicking.

'You have people you love right? People you care for? Then stop fucking around and go save them. If you've seen as many movies as I have, you know what's happening. Gather your important ones and bring them to the roof, we will barricade ourselves here and wait for the worst to pass, and then we move. Now MOVE IT SOLDIER!' Takashi sprang to attention and ran down the stairs, possibly to save the girl that ditched him. Love sucks, doesn't it?

Bakyura was left on the roof, alone. He looked down at the school; things had gone to hell in less than a minute, the undead were roaming the school, and living humans were running around, more than often into the clutches of one of the undead, increasing their ranks, slowly but surely. He stepped into the school, he had no idea he would be fighting so soon after changing schools, looks like he wouldn't need to hold his demonic side at bay anymore.

'Time to kill the dead…' He spoke, walking into the school, taking out his headphones from his bag and lighting another cigarette as he walked in.

* * *

*GAAAAAAAHHAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!*

'This can't be happening' Rei spoke, holding her makeshift spear close, she was traumatized, first being slapped by her ex, then getting a busy tone at the police hotline, and now hearing someone's death rattle over the school broadcast station. The whole school was in chaos, people were trampling each other, trying to get out of their classes. Takashi and Hisashi nodded to each other. They started running towards the administrative building.

'Huh, weren't we going to get out of here?' Rei spoke, visibly confused.

'The class-room building is full of people trying to get out! We're going to have to escape through the administration building.' Hisashi spoke, count on him to figure things out even when in such a mess. Suddenly, on the walkway in front of them, a familiar figure appeared.

'Isn't that Wakisaka from current events?' Rei spoke. True enough, it was Wakisaka alright, but with blood dripping from various wounds in his body, he didn't look like the Wakisaka they knew. As if on cue, Wakisaka lunged at Rei. 'Hey douche! Over here!' Takashi tried to get the undead Wakisaka to follow him, but to no avail.

'_God, have mercy on us._' Takashi thought as Rei attacked Wakisaka.

Bakyura was running through the corridor of the administrative building, 32, yes 32 undead had been taken care of till now, that only left a few hundred more to deal with. This was fun, fun indeed, and the trip to the principal's office had been worth it, not only did he get to kill the undead principal, he also got his confiscated weapons back, he rubbed his spiked half-gauntlets together. He heard a scream from the corner. He quickly rounded the corner and saw three teens fighting one of the undead, a girl's spear was embedded in his heart, she was freaking out because the thing still wouldn't die, Bakyura sped up, jumped and landed a heavy punch on the zombie's face, making it implode under his force and weight. The undead just slumped over and died. The blood-covered girl looked like she was about to pass out.

'That makes it 33.' Bakyura spoke, looking around at the people he had just saved. 'Oh hey Komuro, run to the rooftop, I'll dest- I mean hold up the ones that your squeamish lady attracted with her screams.'

Hisashi looked at Takashi, a look of understanding on his face, to deliver a punch this strong, and to move that fast, this person was no ordinary man. Yet Takashi seemed to trust him, his facial expression revealed that much. Takashi helped Rei up, and then started running towards the roof, Rei stumbled again, obviously shocked by how brutally that person had killed her old friend. Hisashi helped her up and let her lean on his shoulder. He could not help but be grateful to that person. He would have been devastated if something would have happened to his Rei. They slowly walked towards the roof.

* * *

'I'm going out to fight 'them'' Takashi spoke, he didn't feel needed at all, Rei and Hisashi were messing around with the things in the observatory, there was running water in the fire unit, there was food that was left by the Astronomy club for their stays at the observatory, Hisashi had barricaded the path to the observatory. Things were okay for fifteen minutes, but then the undead started to attack their barricade; it wouldn't last long if someone didn't thin out the undead.

'Why are you acting so suicidal?' Hisashi spoke, he had a point, from the top of the observatory, one could see that there were easily thirty undead on the roof, and sending one person, or even all three of them to fight would mean certain death. As the noise they would make would attract even more of 'them'.

'I just can't sit here doing nothing; I won't let them get to me so easily, and we can't wait here for someone to just come and rescue us, I'm not going down without a fight.' Takashi spoke, gripping his bat tight; he started moving towards the barricade, he could leap over it from this side. But it would be impossible to come back.

'I know why you are acting like such a kid, you are just jealous that you are all alone, you are jealous of me and Hisashi, aren't you?' Rei spoke, a demented look on her face, her voice spiked with hatred, was she fucking kidding? Cause it sure as hell wasn't funny.

'Rei! Stop spewing such bullshit!' Hisashi spoke, looking at his friend's face, Rei had hit a nerve, Hisashi could tell that Takashi was feeling like shit already, and what she had said made it worse still, He couldn't forgive himself for betraying his friend, but he loved Rei, love makes one do stuff that they would normally never do. He knew that Takashi secretly hated him. But he did a good job covering it up, but how long would he be able to keep his hatred in chains?

All three of them were silent, the only noises that could be heard were those of the moaning undead, and of the constant knocking on the barrier that they had put up, this continued for a moment, and then, it abruptly stopped, taking everyone by surprise. They got up and looked at the barricade. There were corpses strewn all the way down the stairs to the roof. Hisashi quickly opened the barricade and all three of them stepped out.

The whole roof was covered in corpses; there were around fifty dead bodies. And in the middle of all the carnage was Bakyura, holding one of them in the air with one arm. He quickly brought a leg up to its head while letting it drop, crushing its head before it even hit the ground. It crumpled, joining its dead brother and sisters in hell.

'And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how it's done, a hundred and seventy four for the count.' Bakyura spoke, and just ignoring the fact that he had single handedly destroyed all of 'them' on the roof, all three survivors ran to him.

'Bakyura! You came for us!' Takashi spoke, Bakyura smiled, which came off as an eerie look, thanks to all the blood on his clothes.

'I was the one who instructed you to go to the roof, wasn't I? It's my duty to come get you peeps, right? And as for you two, I haven't really introduced myself, my name is Bakyura Lavosier, senior, pleased to meet you all.

Rei looked at the blood stained teenager, if he wouldn't have been covered in blood, he'd be one heck of a handsome guy. Even now, being around him made her feel safer, one can always trust someone who can get the job done, even if he has to get his own hands dirty.

'I'm Rei Miyamoto, second year, and this is my boyfriend Hisashi, we owe you a great debt.' She spoke, while bowing. Revealing her ample cleavage, Bakyura looked away, damn what was it with Japanese girls and growth hormones?

'Crazy genetics, huh.' He spoke to himself. The guy with the grey hair looked confused. 'Oh it's nothing, Mr. Hisashi, I was just thinking out loud, anywho, you people should find transport to exit the school. There should be some living teachers around, if not, loot the dead ones. I need to check the floor below this to see if I can find any other survivors. Take care, you three. And Takashi, give me a call once you people find transport, I'll send any survivors I find towards you.' Bakyura sprinted back down the stairs.

'He's bat shit crazy.' Hisashi spoke. He was slightly disturbed by Bakyura's overly enthusiastic mood.

'Yeah, I don't even have his number.'

* * *

'What is your name, sophomore?'

'Ishii…Kazu'

'Ishii-Kun, you did well in protecting Marikawa sensei, I admire your courage. Do you know what happens to those who get bitten? Do you want your parents and friends to see you like that? I have never killed anyone before, but I will help you.'

'P-please do it'

The purple haired beauty stood up, Bakyura was watching them from outside the infirmary, the girl sure had guts, and he gave her that. And she sure had skills, one does not simply walk through a school filled with the undead, and though he had taken care of most of them himself, he recognized quite a number of dead bodies that weren't left there by him. To kill so many, one must be a real sadist on the inside, just like him.

'Huh? Wait! What are you trying to do?' the blond bombshell of a nurse spoke up, damn, who sent this pornstar to med school? A grievous misallocation of resources was what this looked like.

'Nurse, please do not interfere, this is a matter of protecting a man's pride, to sit idly like a woman is not my style.' She assumed a stance and slashed, breaking the boy's skull, a painless death.

'You did well, lady swordmistress, better to die than to suffer as one of those.' Bakyura walked into the room, hearing him, the girl turned around; there was a slight smile on her face.

'He's in a better place, just like the countless undead that you have killed, Bakyura Lavosier' Bakyura's smile widened. 'It seems my reputation precedes me, but so does yours, Saeko Busujima, Your handiwork is rather noticeable too. Now if I were you, I'd take that br- teacher to the faculty room, some of the juniors are trying to find the keys to some sort of school transport. I shall follow shortly.' Bakyura spoke, damn he had almost called the teacher a broad, but at this point, did it really matter?

'And where do you plan to go?' Saeko spoke. Bakyura grinned 'The dorms, I have something there that might help if everything else fails.' Saeko nodded and ran off towards the faculty office, the klutz of a nurse followed.

Bakyura shot off for the dorms at full speed; he needed to pick up two things, his carton of smokes and the keys for his bike. Killing the dead was rather fun, but currently, he had people depending on him. And he sure as hell didn't want to let them down.

* * *

'-so we should take the microbus, it is the only way we'll make it out of here safely' the pink headed teen spoke. Bakyura opened the door to the Faculty office, making everyone tense up, seeing him. a couple of smiles appeared on some of the faces.

'Lavosier-senpai! I knew you would survive!' Kohta spoke up. Bakyura saw him and grinned his trademark grin, with his knowledge of guns, he was sure that Kohta would survive, seeing the gas-powered nailgun in his hands confirmed his theory. Bakyura looked around; everyone looked relieved after seeing him, even Saeko. The pink headed teen, who was speaking, on the other hand, was more interested in the bag on his shoulders.

'What have you got in there?' she spoke, hope in her voice, maybe she was expecting some weapons, in which case she wouldn't be wrong.

'There are some knives in here, a machete that one of my dorm members kept and the stun baton from the dorm guard's corpse, I tested it on one of 'them', works fine enough.' Bakyura said.

'Glad someone has the senses to pick up something I could use, thanks; by the way, I take it that you are the Bakyura Lavosier who Takashi owes his life to. My name is Saya Takagi, it's a pleasure.' For some reason, Bakyura could tell that this girl was the cold, calculating type.

'The pleasure is all mine, lady Takagi.' Bakyura spoke with a bow. He had taken the liberty to change into a fresh set of clothes while he was in the dorms. So he wasn't surprised to see Saya blushing as he straightened out. He had that effect on women, why? He had no idea.

'Anyways, I have something to do, I heard your exit plan on the way here, and just by the way, the zombies rely on sound as their primary sense, they can't see, use this weakness to your advantage. I have one last thing to do, so if you can empty my bag and keep the weapons, I can finish my job quickly and meet you at the gate.

Hisashi hurried forward and took out most of the knives, stacking them on a table; everyone picked a knife except for Saya, who got the stun baton.

'You guys, best of luck, take care. I'll follow you when I'm done here.' Bakyura ran away again, towards the kitchen this time, he had to stack up as much as possible. One could not survive the dead on an empty stomach. He reached the kitchen and loaded as many types of preserved meats as he could, stuffing in boxes of bacon and packets of pepperoni. He left as soon as the bag got filled; he had enough to last the group a few days. He ran towards the bike parking, fortunately, there were next to no undead here. He sat on his Ducati Diavel, in the distance, he could hear a bus starting off, he started his bike, and he had a full tank of gasoline. He pumped the gas, following the bus, which broke through the school gate.

* * *

'My my, seems you have all lost someone you look up to. That is sad, was he your leader?' Shidou spoke.

'Shut up you bastard.' Rei heard the noise of an engine right behind theirs and so did the others. They all turned around as smiles lit up their faces. Except for the new additions to the group of survivors who frankly no one gave a flying fuck about. Following the bus was a motorbike. And on the motorbike sat the youth most of them owed their lives to.

'Is he smoking?' Saya asked.

Takashi just nodded, falling off to sleep.

'The day the world ended,

I stayed up late'

* * *

CHARACTER BIO

**Name- Bakyura Lavosier**

**Nationality – British by birth, travelled all over the world with his parents, who have a love for learning all kinds of armed and unarmed combat.**

**Siblings – One elder brother. elementary school teacher.**

**Height – 6'3**

**Weight – 70 kg**

**Hair color – Naturally blonde, dyed black (blond hair is considered a mark of being a Delinquent in Japan)**

**Eye color – Light Green**

**Things he likes – Combat, Smoking, Cookies**

**Things he hates – Overly pompous people, Shidou, Shidou.**


	2. Chapter 2: democracy of the DEAD

Life among the dead- chapter 2

'And I, will stand my,

Ground until the end.

Till we conquer them all'

Metal songs. nothing better to lift one's mood, especially after narrowly surviving a zombie outbreak. Bakyura was following the schoolbus driven by Shizuboobs, there seemed to be new faces on the bus, not that he cared in particular. The more the merrier, he supposed. If they weren't getting along in the bus, nothing he could do about it, he could take care of fights, intrapersonal relationships? Not his cup of tea.

_Cup of tea, fuck, my britisherness strikes back._ He looked down at his speedometer; he was easily going above a hundred kilometers per hour, how fast WAS Shizuboobs driving? As if on cue, she slowed down, stopping near the underpass of a flyover.

_Why are they stopping here? Is there something wrong with the bus?_ Bakyura couldn't help but worry. He stopped his bike and got off; he opened the door of the bus and climbed aboard, only to notice that this shit-looking guy was badmouthing Takashi for no apparent reason.

'I don't even know you, why do you hate me so much?' Takashi had a valid point, if he went around befriending shits like that guy, he wouldn't be friends with such hot chicks.

'You little bitch' the guy moved towards Takashi menacingly, Hisashi tightened his grip around his knife, ready to act if shit went down. But everyone was surprised by what happened next. Rei, who was standing, bashed that shitface in the stomach with her broomhandle. The guy curled up on the floor.

'Pfft!' everyone turned around to face Bakyura, it wasn't his fault, for a man of such big words, the little shit went down real fucking easy. They were all distracted by the sound of clapping. A man in the back of the bus had gotten up, something about his face just pissed Bakyura off right off the bat. 'Welcome, mister Lavosier, we have heard quite a lot about you, it seems you are the _de facto_ leader of Komuro's little group. Are you not?'

Bakyura knew where this was going; he had seen enough movies to realize when a power grab was gonna happen. 'No, I'm not the leader. We all just worked together to escape that hellhole of a school.' The man, Shidou was his name apparently, chuckled a bit, which ticked Bakyura off, BAD.

'You seem to have excellent teamwork, as demonstrated by Komuro-kun and Miyamoto-San here, but to prevent such kinds of fights in the future. We should try a little idea I had, what we need is a leader, a leader just for us.' Bakyura had to resist the urge to punch him in the face.

'And let me guess, there is only one person that can shoulder the burden' Saya spoke up, her voice overflowing with sarcasm.

'I'm a TEACHER, Takagi-san, if there is anybody here qualified for the job, it's me. So how about it, y'all? If you agree with me, would you please clap your hands?'

Silence reigned supreme for a moment, and then the little shit on the floor started clapping, soon followed by everyone in the back of the bus, except for this one girl with orange hair, who Bakyura had expected to be the first to clap. She slowly left the back seats to stand by Bakyura, he recognized her. He used to be in her class. Her name was Yuuki Miku, if he remembered correctly. She was the girl who was always busy dealing with lusty stares from the guys in the class. She was really pretty, that was something even Bakyura had to admit.

'Glad to see you are on our side, Yuuki.' Bakyura spoke, looking at her face. She just blushed. That was odd; she used to shout a lot in school. Why was she so silent now? Shidou's face was livid. He probably had the hots for Yuuki here. Too bad that she had enough brains to see what was right and what was wrong.

'As for you, you wannabe dramatic democratic fuckface, you and your little group is currently in no fit state to vote, you can't have a fucking vote till you can carry your own weight, you could be rotting out in that school, chilling with the undead, if my comrades didn't have the heart to save you. So if I were you, I'd shut the fuck up and sit the fuck down. We only need the bus till we reach the city, after that, you can have it for all we care.'

Rei had had enough. 'If he stays, I go.' Saying so, she ran out of the bus, Takashi followed her, trying to make her come back. They were having a heated argument outside. Hisashi was about to jump out of the bus to follow them, but Saeko pulled him back in the nick of time, another bus had just crashed on the road and caught fire, Takashi and Rei were stuck on the other side. Saeko and Hisashi jumped out of the bus, followed by Bakyura and Yuuki.

'We are okay here, Hisashi, don't worry, I won't let anything happen to Rei, Saeko san, we'll meet at the Higashi police station, if not today, then tomorrow.' Rei and Takashi left to look for a way out on the other side. Saeko sighed and got into the bus, Hisashi looked scared, but decided to return as well. Bakyura decided to go back to his bike. Just looking at Shidou's face made him want to punch him, hard.

'Ummm, Bakyura-San?' He looked around, startled; he saw that Yuuki was following him. 'Would you mind if I rode with you? I can't bear that Shidou one bit. I feel like he has something nasty in store for me and the way he looks at me just gives me the creeps.' Bakyura smiled. 'Sure, you can keep me company; it does get lonely riding on a bike, having someone interesting to talk to might help with that boredom. Though thanks to the fire blocking the way north, we'll have to take a path different from the bus's, do you know this area well?'

Yuuki nodded, he never thought this girl could be so adorable, seems one really can't judge a book by its cover. 'Kay then, I'll be counting on you to lead me to the Higashi police station.' Yuuki looked up and blushed. She remembered the day Bakyura joined the school.

* * *

'**Good morning students, today we have a new transfer student joining us, you can come in now.'**

**Yuuki looked up from her desk, she was running low on sleep, thanks to the track team's early morning practice sessions. What she saw made her heart skip a beat, and she knew for fact that she wasn't the only one who felt this way.**

'**Hey there, my name is Bakyura Lavosier, I'm new in Japan so I'll be depending on y'all.' On the pedestal stood a guy who was easily one of the best lookers that Yuuki had ever seen. Third grade was filled with loser guys as it is, this guy was in a league of his own, he was tall, his build was lean, yet muscular, his long black hair looked absolutely stunning and his eyes, light green. They were just magical. All this coupled with the adorable half-smile on his face made him look like something out of a dream. Yuuki rubbed her eyes and looked around the room. There were quite a number of girls in the class and they were all staring at Bakyura, jaws hitting their desks.**

'**Nice to meet you Bakyura, take the seat next to Miku-san, if you may.'**

**All the girls in the class gave Yuuki looks of hatred and jealousy; Yuuki's face turned a deep shade of crimson. This HAD to be a dream. She felt like she was about the faint as Bakyura slowly walked towards her.**

**Ba-dum**

**Ba-dum**

**Ba-dum**

'**Hey, are you Yuuki Miku?'**

**Yuuki felt something choking up her, she just nodded.**

'**Some guy named Morita cornered me outside, telling me how lucky I am to be in the same class as the hottest girl in the school, you seem to have quite the reputation of turning down guys and snapping at people who look at you. I'll be at my best behavior as long as you don't make a scene in front of the class, deal?'**

_**Fuck**__**you Morita**_**. Just because she had turned him down a couple of times, Morita had made it a habit to spread shit about her around school.**

'**Umm, okay. If you need any help, just ask away!' Yuuki managed to blurt out a single line. Her brain was jamming. She had never felt like this before, this was probably how the guys who liked her felt.**

**Bakyura sat down, he looked around and spoke to Yuuki. 'Two questions. Why the hell are all the guys giving me death glares? And is there any place in the school where I can cut class in peace?'**

'**I have no idea about the first question, as for the second question, there's the roof. Morita does come there at times with his guitar, but you can easily scare him off.' Yuuki knew that this meant Bakyura won't be in class much, so much for trying to befriend him.**

'**Thanks dove, I'll be gone as soon as this period ends.'**

* * *

'Dove? You aight? You really look out of it.'

Yuuki snapped back to reality, she had taken her time on her visit to dreamland.

'I-I'm alright, so, we go to the police station right?' Bakyura just nodded, he seemed worried about Yuuki spacing out.

'We'll need to arrange for gasoline first, my bike is almost out.' Bakyura spoke, lighting a cigarette and sitting down on the bike, gesturing for Yuuki to follow, which Yuuki gladly did.

'Let's go and find Takashi.' Bakyura spoke as he gunned his bike down the road.


	3. Chapter 3: Discord of the DEAD

**Chapter 3 – discord of the DEAD**

"Hirano!"

"Ngah. Ah. Takagi-San. Goo'mo'nin'" Hirano managed to spit out, he was woken up by Saya, who co-incidentally was also a part of the dream he was having, albeit she had much less clothes in the dream.

"You were sleeping like a rock. Typical oaf" Saya spoke with a haughty tone, was that tone of hers present in his dream? Did she even SPEAK in his dream? Hirano rubbed his eyes, trying to wake up. He noticed that the bus had stopped. He looked outside and his heart nearly stopped.

"B-but, this is…" Looking out of the window, Hirano saw the biggest traffic jam he had ever laid eyes on.

"We shouldn't have gone towards the city in the first place; the government probably wants to isolate the city using all means necessary. The self-defense force and the American army have 'Them' under control in many areas and they must have accepted that they really can't trust anyone. No, someday the whole world will feel that way." Saya spoke, letting her pure unfiltered genius shine through. No wonder Hirano had the hots for her, sexy AND smart.

"If people are unable to come to terms with the outbreak, what will you do?" Saya posed a genuine question, one which Hirano found himself unable to answer.

"I'll do what I can…" Hirano answered, damn generic if he said so himself, but true nonetheless. Only circumstances would dictate his actions had he been alone when the outbreak took place, suddenly, he had a vision of himself wrapped in a blanket and playing videogames while zombies roamed around on the lower levels of his apartment complex. Even the idea made him shiver a bit.

"But will the rest of the world think that way? On the other hand, if they continue with their lives, they'll have to realize that it's necessary to maintain communities…" Saya launched into another of her theories, every word of what she said hit home. Hirano started sweating.

"You're really smart, Takagi-San." Hirano spoke, what else COULD he say? He didn't have theories like Saya did; he did have some, so to speak. But they sounded so stupid that he didn't even want to talk about them. The one about how the zombie apocalypse was a byproduct of some supercorporation's researches into medicine was probably the stupidest of the lot. He just decided to complement Saya and shut the fuck up.

"What are you talking about?" Saya spoke. She was visibly agitated. "That bastard Shidou knows that already. He's using it to his own advantage, but he doesn't understand its implications. It's as if he's trying to create some sort of religious sect. I mean, look at his followers!"

Hirano looked at the students they had saved while escaping, Shidou was still lecturing them about how they needed to form a new world where only the strong will survive. One could practically see the admiration on the faces of those poor, brainwashed teens. This pissed Hirano off. He picked up his nailgun.

"Should we kick him out?" Saya shook her head, reminding Hirano of Bakyura's promise to give them the bus once they reached the city. But Bakyura didn't need to worry about transportation; he had a bloody superbike of his own. Not to mention the school's hottest chick was mad about him. Some men really had it all.

"More importantly, how are we going to survive? We need to think of a plan first. We need someone we can trust… Geez if only Komuro or Bakyura were here, we'd have some ideas…" Saya spoke, she was deep in thought, and a creepy smile appeared on Hirano's face.

"Takagi-San, you are confused between Komuro-San and Bakyura-Senpai, aren't you?"

Saya's facial expression turned from one of confusion to one of embarrassment. Hirano had hit home with that one, and it kinda stung him a bit too. Saya was a gorgeous girl, and well endowed, both with bust and brains. She was really out of his league, and with lady killers like Bakyura and Takashi around; He wasn't gonna be scoring anytime soon.

"You have no proof! Don't say stupid things like that!" Saya stuttered as she spoke, confirming Hirano's doubts.

"Oh really? We have Hisashi here with us, not to mention me. We have you as our think tank and we have survived together, making us more than capable of trusting each other. So why else would your mind jump to Bakyura- Senpai and Takashi-San?" Kohta couldn't believe what he had just done. He had forced the mastermind, Saya Takagi, into a corner in an argument. Shit didn't get better than this.

"Dammit Hirano, I'll tell you if you promise not to go blab to anyone else." Kohta's face dropped. To keep a secret from Bakyura-Senpai would be next to impossible. The guy was literally a lie detector.

"I promise, so what confuses you so much?" Dammit all, if there were consequences; he'd deal with them later.

"I-I don't know, liking Takashi is almost natural for me, he and I have been friends since elementary school. And he's been defying me ever since, but whenever I need help, when stuff is genuinely wrong, he's always been there to help me. I've tried to woo him since middle school, when I realized that my feelings for him were genuine. But I was too late; he was already smitten by that Miyamoto. When she dumped him, I was supposed to feel bad. But deep inside, I felt good. I felt like I finally had my chance. But all that ended when I saw what Rei had turned Takashi into. He was emotionally dead. And if this outbreak wouldn't have had happened god knows what he would have done to himself." Hirano understood how Saya felt. He wanted to console her, but he knew there was more to come.

"As for Bakyura. Truth is I and Saeko-Senpai know him from before, when my elder brother was being taught the way of the sword by Saeko-Senpai's father, she used to come play in our estate. And so would Bakyura, this was six years ago and we were merely kids. But we both had major crushes on Bakyura. He used to come for classes as well, with his elder brother. They were masters even at such a young age. Techniques that required years of practice to master were perfected by them in mere days, plus the fact that they were handsome as hell and courteous and intelligent to boot. I think Bakyura and Saeko had something going on back then, but I never really got to confirm it because Bakyura left Japan to return to his homeland in the U.K. When he returned this year, I recognized him off the bat. I even tried asking around about him. I thought it couldn't be the Bakyura I knew; even his hair-color had changed. But once I met him, back at the faculty office, I knew it could be no one else. And my feelings from childhood began to resurface. I don't think Saeko realized yet, but he is the same guy." Hirano shuffled uncomfortably in his seat. He now knew Saya's long-hidden feelings, he felt honored that she would choose to confide in him, but it hurt nonetheless. He himself liked Saya since they ended up in the same class earlier this semester. But his feelings had nothing on the ones Saya had for those two. Bakyura and Takashi were in leagues of their own too, Bakyura could easily make any girl his, and Takashi was considered one of the most datable guys in second grade, second only to Hisashi.

"Saya, I DO know that this is the same Bakyura I liked as a kid, his mastery of body and mind told me that much." Saeko popped up, scaring Saya and Hirano out of their skins. They turned around to see Shizuka, Saeko and Hisashi sitting right behind them.

"H-how long have you been listening?" Saya blurted out, her face taking on a red hue.

"We heard it all; after all, we have been sitting right behind you." Shizuka spoke in a singsong way. Saya looked like she would melt on the spot. Hisashi let out a slight laugh and spoke.

"Alpha team to base, Alpha team to base, we have been compromised."

* * *

**Meanwhile**

"So, we have to cross this bridge, huh? Well, can't see it happening." Bakyura spoke, and his words rang true for good measure, there was a traffic jam that ran a few miles into the city, plus the police had set up a blockade, no one was going to pass this way.

"There are other bridges along the way, wanna check them out?" Yuuki spoke. Bakyura sighed. Any bridges that lead into the city would be closed by now, unless the area was a lost cause due to the outbreak's severity, in that case they would have to fight through hordes of zombies just to get across. Alone, Bakyura could manage it. But with Yuuki with him, it would be suicide. He was about to voice his opinions when a bike took the corner and stopped next to them. Bakyura smiled.

"Bakyura! Glad to see someone from the group!" Rei spoke, Takashi grinned. Bakyura's smile grow wider, he sure had underestimated these two, Takashi had a gun strapped to his belt and he had obtained a bike, a KTM to be exact. It wouldn't exactly be able to keep up with the ducati, but the more transportation they could find, the better.

"It seems I underestimated you two, not only have you survived; you have found a weapon and a bike, good going! But now if you see here, we can't get through this bridge." Bakyura pointed towards the bridge, as if to reinforce his point, a few people were blown off the bridge by pressurized water, possibly used by the police. The four teens that were blown off the bridge were now swimming towards where Bakyura and Takashi were standing. They got out of the water at the embankment. They saw Bakyura and ran towards him; the two guys took lead, cheered on by the two girls behind them.

"Y-you! H-hand over your fucking bikes!" their leader, a thuggish high school student spoke, he was brandishing a stick and a revolver, and oh boy was he one ugly motherfucker.

"Y-yeah! D-do as he says!" spoke the second guy, he held another stick in his hands. The way he held it showed that he really had no idea how to use it.

"And what if we don't?" Bakyura spoke, a hint of steel in his voice. Just hearing him made the leader of that group pull out his revolver. Bakyura noticed that it was empty, I mean c'mon it was a fucking revolver, you can see the chamber and the magazine. Both were empty.

"If not, you'll face the wrath of my little friend here." He spoke. This made Bakyura chuckle. Then burst out laughing. Then roll over with laughter. Takashi drew his own revolver, which had a full magazine. Bakyura lowered Takashi's gun with his hand, pointing towards its magazine. Takashi looked confused.

"Oooooh! I'm scared! Go ahead; threaten me with an empty revolver you stole from your da-da." The leader took a step back, a grimace on his face. He dropped the revolver and charged, brandishing his stick. He was followed by his mook, their target was Bakyura.

Bad move.

In a flash, Bakyura kicked up, breaking the guy's stick and planting his heel on his face. The sheer force of the kick sent the fucker rolling down the embankment and back into the river. His mook charged with his stick. Bakyura sidestepped him as he swung, then delivered a roundhouse kick to his face, sending him facefirst into the road.

"Ouch." Yuuki exclaimed from behind Bakyura. Bakyura smiled back at her.

The two girls with those guys were now holding each other. Their legs shaking as Bakyura approached them. They were the trashy eye-candy type blondes that thugs kept around for cheap sex. Shidou material. Bakyura sighed, and then gave the girls a death glare; the blonde fainted on the spot, while the other girl ran away.

"And I guess that's that." Bakyura spoke, picking up the revolver that the leader dropped. He was surprised; it was a Ruger Redhawk .44, Damn, wherever these fucks picked this revolver up from, they sure had a taste in guns. Although they probably didn't find ammunition cause the dumbfucks didn't know what kind the revolver would be compatible with. He turned back and gave the revolver to Yuuki.

"You don't know how to fight without weapons, so this is for you, we don't have ammunition yet, but we are going to a police station after all. We'll probably find some there.

Yuuki blushed. Bakyura probably didn't think of the gun as much of a gift, but it was a sign that he did care for her well being. Yuuki held the revolver close and spoke.

"I'll treasure it, Promise."

* * *

"It looks like we really won't be able to cross." Takashi spoke.

Rei's mood dropped. Bakyura wasn't much happy either. Yuuki was okay though, she was happy as long as Bakyura was around. Rei was looking around, when all of a sudden her face lit up. She jumped off the bike and shouted.

"Hey look! Over there!" Rei ran toward those five figures in the distance. Takashi's face lit up as well. Bakyura allowed himself a slight smile too; guess Shidou got his bus after all.

"HISASHI!" Rei shouted, jumping into his arms, Tears of happiness in her eyes. Hisashi tightly embraced her, sobbing tears of happiness. Bakyura looked at Takashi and was surprised. Takashi looked genuinely happy. This was new, was the guy finally over Rei?

"I'm glad to see you're unharmed, Komuro-Kun." Saeko walked up to Takashi. Wait, when did these two get so close? Takashi smiled. "You too, Busujima-Sempai."

"Lavosier-Kun! I'm sorry we had to leave the bus before we reached the city, but it was insane in there with Shidou!" Shizuka spoke, walking up to Bakyura. Bakyura just smiled.

"It's alright, all that matters is that we are all safe." Hirano and Takagi had moved next to Bakyura. Takagi was blushing. Bakyura looked at her. She looked like she was ready to snap. And in the next moment, she did.

"You masochist, Idiot, self-centered, hateful baboon! I've just about had enough of you, first you refuse to recognize your childhood friends, and then you save us from zombies without so much as a reason to why you are doing it. And then you disappear to god-knows-where! You almost gave me and Saeko-Senpai heart attacks!"

Bakyura took a few steps back, tripped and fell. But Saya wasn't done yet.

"Don't you remember how we used to play back at the Takagi estate? When you used to learn from Saeko's dad? You used to be the one who gave us weird names! Don't tell me you have forgotten! Why did you go away without telling us? Why didn't you ever write to us? Maybe give us a call at times? Didn't we mean shit to you? If we meant so little to you, why did you even return? Did you really want to hide yourself from us so much that you even dyed your hair black? Do you hate us so much?" Saya burst into tears and started punching Bakyura.

Bakyura's eyes mellowed down, he put his hands around Saya, who stopped pummeling him and returned the embrace. "Of course I remember you, Yaya-Chan. How could I forget the lady who taught me how to smile? You were my first friends, you and Koko-Chan." He looked at Saeko, tears of happiness appearing in her eyes as she ran and joined them in their embrace.

"I didn't leave because I wanted to; I left because I was forced to. If it was up to me, I'd spend my whole life here, with you people. Japan is the only country where I have ever made friends. And when I returned, I was scared that you two might hate me, so I changed what I could. But I was so silly, after all. I couldn't change who I was, and in doing so. I let you discover me. The past is gone now; no one can bring it back. The only way I can make amends is by promising to you two that I will be with you forevermore, pinkie promise?"

Saya and Saeko wrapped their little fingers around Bakyura's. He gestured the rest of them to join in. Starting with Shizuka, everyone joined in.

"It's a pinkie promise, Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a cupcake in my eye!"

Everyone looked at Bakyura, and then broke into laughter.

"Damn you, My Little Pony!"


	4. Chapter 4 : secrets of the DEAD

**Life among the dead- Chapter 4 – secrets of the DEAD**

**Author's notes (This shit is important) – I want to address the issue that sir Axular brought up in his review, Firstly, Bakyura is SUPPOSED to be a Black Hole Sue, at least for a few more chapters. The reason for this is because he tries to be as perfect as possible because he's hiding a rather dark past, if you would have been so kind as to let the story flow, you'd find that Hisashi and Takashi have a much bigger role in the upcoming chapters. As for him getting all the girls, it ain't gonna play out that way, bub. **

**Secondly, about Bakyura, He has a bike in high school, so what? Ever played Persona 2? Tatsuya had a bike. Didn't see any complaints there, fuck, even I have a bike and this is my last year of high school. The reason Bakyura is strong is because ever since he was a wee lad he's been forced to roam around with his parents and brother, learning different martial arts in different countries. As for physical and racial details, Bakyura is half Brit (mother's side) and half Jap (father's side). He dyes his hair black for the simple reason that his naturally blond hair comes off as a sign of delinquency in Japan.**

**As for Japanese people treating outsiders with hostility, no, that doesn't happen. I have friends in Japan and I know for fact that they are happy in that country even though they are outsiders.**

**Lastly, the reason why Bakyura kills zombies using martial arts and doesn't die, unlike Hisashi, is because he's learnt practical martial arts, not karate for sports.**

**Your review showed me that my character is having the effect I desired on the readers, and I thank you for confirming that. Thank you for the review.**

* * *

'Due to the large number of victims to the killer disease, we are unable to continue broadcasting from this studio. It has been decided that we will continue this broadcast once we are out at sea. We will not be airing the scheduled programming for this hour. Goodbye.'

Bakyura switched off the radio app on his phone, irritated that the government was still treating the outbreak like it was nothing more than an epidemic. But then, telling the country that the dead are re-animating and coming to eat them isn't exactly a smart move either. He sighed silently, getting up from the bed he was lying on; they were in the house of one of Shizuboob's friends, though what job this friend of hers did was questionable. There was a military-issue Humvee parked in the garage and there was a weapons locker in the bedroom. The girls were taking a bath so Takashi, Hisashi and Kohta had decided to pry open the locker, though it was hard to concentrate when there were lewd voices coming from the washroom.

"Sounds like they're having fun." Takashi spoke, Hisashi sighed. He could make out that the loudest shouts were Rei's. Kohta had a lustful expression on his face.

"Want to see if there's anything in there to 'protect them from' in there?" Kohta spoke. Hisashi smacked him over the top of his head while Takashi backed up. "I don't want to die yet." He spoke, genuine fear in his voice. Bakyura couldn't blame him, girls sure could be scary.

Even though Takashi was joking when he said it, Bakyura couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if they hadn't banded together. He could have survived alone, but could the others have done the same? Saeko would have escaped the school for sure, but what about the others? Would they have ended up like their friends in school? Eating the living while shambling over streets they could not see? Not that he cared, but he had almost been compromised by Saya and Saeko. Those two knew him from when he was still a kid. How could he have overlooked that fact? Also, the fact that all of these kids were now looking up to him was a pain in the ass. He wasn't sure how long he could keep up his 'Mr. Perfect' image. It sure would hurt like a bitch when these kids found out that he wasn't the fabled hero who was going to save them all.

The sound of crunching metal broke Bakyura's chain of thought. He looked at Hirano to see an evil smirk on his face; he looked towards what Hirano was looking at with such malice. Inside the locker were three guns. Bakyura knew how to use guns, but he always found them distasteful. There was no fun in killing from a range; it felt good to slice an enemy. Or to punch him and feel his bones break under the impact. Guns just took the thrill out of it.

"Just as I thought." Hirano spoke, his evil grin widening into a maniacal smile. Takashi looked shocked. "This is Shizuka-Sensei's friend's house… Just what kind of friends does she have?" Takashi spoke. Hisashi picked up the shotgun out of the three, examining it closely. "This 'friend' of hers seems like quite the shady character. We should check around the house to see if we can find something else like this, after all, the more the weapons we have, the better."

Bakyura nodded, he looked at Hirano, who was busy Fangasming all over the weapons. Takashi was trying to gain his attention, though he wasn't exactly succeeding in doing so, not in the least. But he saw something that interested him, a crossbow. A Barnett Wildcat C5, to be precise. His father owned one of those and he knew how deadly it could be if used with explosive bolts. He picked it up and handed it to Hisashi, who looked surprised.

"Look around and see if you can find bolts for this which have red dots midway through the shaft, if you can find any of those, I'll teach you how to use this. This could very well be one of the most efficient weapons to thin 'them' out." Hirano looked up at Bakyura's comment, a confused look on his face. Bakyura saw this and spoke. "Explosive bolts, they go boom after they hit, real useful for both attacking and distracting 'them'. I suggest we look for them. Now if you excuse me, I need to look for something that I can use in melee combat." Bakyura left the room. Hisashi looked at the crossbow in his hands. This weapon could very well be the difference between life and death. He looked at Hirano, who was busy loading the ammunition into magazines.

"Did you learn all this from Airsoft guns?" Takashi spoke, seeing Kohta loading the magazines. Kohta shook his head. "Hell no, they were real guns." Takashi was taken aback. "YOU'VE HANDLED A REAL GUN?" Hisashi had to admit that even he was surprised; Hirano didn't look the type to have handled a real gun.

"When I was In America, I went to army training. A blackwater instructor took me under his wing and taught me for a month, he was a good guy, he was half Japanese. I hope he's still alive." Takashi gulped. "I'm just glad that we aren't enemies." Hisashi couldn't agree more, in his search for the bolts. He had found something interesting, a stun gun. He showed it to Hirano. Who started fangasming again.

"That's a police-use stun-gun! This would be perfect for Saya!" Hisashi smiled, he had been feeling rather useless ever since this began. It was worth it even if he could help a little. He started searching again, and almost instantly found the bolts that Bakyura had spoke of. Something had been nagging him. How did Bakyura know about explosive bolts when even Hirano, being a gun nut, had no idea?

"I've been thinking, don't you think Bakyura's a bit…odd? I mean, the guy wasn't even known back in school, he was in no club. Academically, his performance wasn't even noticeable. He was a no-show for class and I have never seen him do anything even minutely worthy of mention. And here he is now, he's better than any of us in combat, I'm a black belt in Karate and I cannot move half as fast or hit half as hard as he can, and I spoke with Saeko, his skill with weapons is equally good, if not better. Then there's the fact that he knows about military equipment that even Hirano has no idea about. Plus the fact that he knows everything that's happening and wasn't even fazed when facing 'Them' for the first time. Also, he is socially perfect, I mean, one cannot hate that guy. I feel that he's trying to hide something from us." Hisashi voiced his thoughts, forcing Takashi and Hirano to think. Hirano was the first to remark.

"I knew him from back at school; he saved be from bullies quite a number of times. He even knows about my passion for guns, yet he always looked down on guns, in his words, they take the 'Up, close and personal' part out of combat. Even then he possessed an immense knowledge of weapons. I always found it odd why he knew so much about something he hated. When I asked him, he just smiled and said he makes it a point to know about things that could kill him. I have no idea why he would say that." Hirano spoke. What he said made Hisashi even more suspicious.

Takashi was speechless. One look at him told Hisashi that he was probably worried about something else.

"Dude, what's bothering you?" Hisashi spoke, Takashi looked at him. "Bakyura helped us get this far, and I guess he plans to stick around. So I'm not worried about anything he's hiding. What does concern me is this friend of Shizuka-Sensei. From what I gather, all these guns are illegal, even for a police officer. She couldn't be a civilian, could she? She's police and she's probably not married. Normally the police have to live in special housing. Looking at this room, though, maybe she's from a rich family. Either that or her boyfriend is rich, or she's crooked." Takashi's doubts hit home. They could be in the house of an assassin or mercenary for all they knew. Even the thought made Hisashi shiver.

* * *

**Meanwhile**

Bakyura looked at the sword on the mantelpiece, it was huge. They had a name for such swords he remembered his German teacher referring to one as a Zweihänder, but this sword was much bigger, much like the Chinese Zhanmadao, the horse slaying sword. The blade of the sword was as long as him, and the handle was the size of half a spear. The only difference this sword had from the original Zhanmadao was that it was much broader and double edged. He took it off the wall, it even had a leather strap if someone was to use it, with his strength and the length of the sword, this could be the perfect weapon for killing hordes of "them" in a single slash. "Well, I'll be taking this." He said to himself as he slung the blade's straps over his shoulders, feeling like Cloud Strife from final fantasy as he did so.

Bakyura stepped out on the first floor balcony, there was no one around, and maybe he should call his brother and update his situation. He took out his phone and dialed his number.

*hey, is that you, brother?* the familiar sound of his brother, Shinra, was like music to his ears. He had no doubt that his family would be safe, but it felt good to confirm.

'Yeah, it's me. Gotta confirm my situation from time to time, don't i?' Bakyura spoke; he spoke in German, so that even if someone heard, they wouldn't be able to make out head or tails of what he said.

*Yeah, good to hear from you too, little brother. So what's the progress report for the mission?*

"I'm near the son of the contractors. He seems to trust me, but I ran into unforeseen difficulties here, I might be compromised." The difficulties mentioned here being Saeko and Saya.

*Difficulties? I don't know anyone in this country who can challenge you in combat. I assume you've met up with someone who knows you?* Bakyura sighed, leave it to his brother to figure him out in a heartbeat.

"Yeah, you remember Saeko Busujima and Saya Takagi. Right? Them." Bakyura considered them friends, but if they got in the way of his mission. He would have to hurt them. But seeing how it was going, the worst they could do was find out what his profession was. And even for that, they would have to meet up with their parents.

*Oh! Those little munchkins? Don't worry about them. You don't need to kill them if they get in your way. Just make sure to restrain them and you'll be A-OK. Anyways, report your position* Typical Shinra. Bakyura quickly told him the address of the house they were hiding in. Shinra gasped.

*That's Rika's house! Is she there? Please tell me she's alright? Is Shizu there too?* Bakyura was shocked. How did Shinra know the owner of this house? More so, how did he know Shizuka?

"Okay Shinra, how the fuck do you know the owner of this house? And more so, how the fuck do you know Shizuboobs?" Bakyura knew that this was his only chance to find out more about the owner of this house.

*Rika is an officer with the prefectural police; she is the chief of the first squadron. She is seventh among the list of top snipers in the country. Aaaand she's my ex. As for Shizuka, she's the reason the breakup happened. But she's cool, even though she's the world's biggest ditz.* Bakyura swore Shinra said 'the world's biggest tits' but he quickly shoved it out of his mind.

"That the same list that you rank first on?" Bakyura spoke. His brother was an excellent sniper, world renowned.

*hahaha, no, I'm the first on an international level, and I'd have you know that the snipers in Afghanistan are no joke. I wouldn't appear on her ranking list anyways, even though I do have an honorary mention. That's just how life as a mercenary is.* Bakyura sighed, his brother was the only mercenary in their family. He got it easy, as father said.

"Yeah okay, enough bragging for now, I'll hang up. I'll keep contacting you from time to time, updating you on the situation. Stay safe." Bakyura meant the last bit genuinely. His brother was reckless to say the least.

*you too bro. Stay safe…*

Bakyura hung up the call. He heard gunshots in the distance. He looked around and saw that the bridge where the blockade was set up was the source of the sound's origin. He took out his mini-binoculars from his pockets and looked out. Apparently a police officer had shot someone, great going. Now there would be riots all across the city. In this one moment of misjudgment, the feds had lost all reliability they had. Bakyura sighed and moved inside. He noticed that the other bedroom was open. Odd, he didn't notice this room when he was scouting the house. He noticed that the room had its own bathroom too. Bakyura smiled. Maybe cleaning up would do him some good. He looked at the bed in the room. There were bottles of wine and whiskey on the bed. Some looked like they had been opened recently. He noticed that there was also a crate full of beer and a bottle of champagne in the corner. He closed the room's door, a smile on his face.

First get wasted, and then have a bath, pure genius.

* * *

**Meanwhile**

"Okay, so this is all I could find" Hisashi commented, happy over the large amount of ammo he had found. There were a hundred and twenty explosive bolts, fifty double feathered bolts and a lot of .44 revolver ammo. That would be good for Yuuki's revolver.

He looked around in the room, what he saw almost made him faint. A half-naked Shizuka leaped at him and brought him into a tight embrace, kissing him while yelling his name. He quickly pushed her off, which made her towel fall down.

And in that moment, he saw heaven.

He quickly turned away, but the damage was done. He had a nosebleed. Shizuka wrapped her towel back. Got up, took a few shaky steps towards the bed and then fell down on it, snoring. As if on cue, Takashi and Kohta appeared from under the bed.

"Is the boobie monster gone?" Kohta spoke, looking around. He almost jumped back when he saw Shizuka passed out on the bed. The bed they were supposed to sleep on.

"You two manage her, I'm going out for a bit, I need to sort stuff out with my conscience." Hisashi spoke, that was only half true, and he just wanted to get away from Shizuka. Seeing her naked was pumping up his primal desire for sex. But his love for Rei was keeping him away.

As he left the room, he felt a familiar body embrace his. He looked down to see Rei; there were tears in her eyes. Hisashi got worried, why was she crying?

"Rei, love, are you alright? Why are you crying…are you drunk!?" Hisashi could literally smell the alcohol off her. Rei looked up at him, wiping her tears. "JUSHT A LITTLE WITTE BIT, HISAAASHI!" She shouted, catching Hisashi off guard. She was clearly VERY drunk.

"Rei, calm down and tell me why you were crying. Is everything alright? Did someone say something to you?" Rei looked up at him and hugged him again. "I was thinking about what would have had happened if Bakyura didn't save us back at the school, I'd have died and turned into one of 'them'." Hisashi thought about it, he wouldn't want to live if something happened to Rei, then he thought back to the events that took place at school. Bakyura had helped them back then. He had saved Rei. Maybe his distrust of Bakyura was just plain jealousy, jealousy that he wasn't the one who saved Rei.

"Rei, I'd never let anything happen to you, I'd willingly lay down my life if it meant that you could be saved. I told you before that I love you, right? If I let anything happen to you, how would I be able to live with myself-" Hisashi was cut short by Rei, who had kissed him, he returned the kiss, reveling in the happiness that the girl he loved reciprocated his feelings.

Unknown to them, Takashi was standing behind them, his heart heavy and a sour expression on his face, he was sure that he was over Rei. So why couldn't he find happiness in her well being. He quickly turned away and went downstairs, leaving the two lovebirds to make out in peace. He had almost forgotten the main reason why he had left the room when the rumbling of his stomach reminded him why. He went towards the kitchen; the smell of freshly cooked food coming from the kitchen was almost irresistible.

"Is that you, Komuro-Kun?" Saeko's voice came from the kitchen. _So SHE was the one cooking_.Takashi thought. During the last three days, he had found himself getting to know her better. And he could safely say that he was attracted towards her, everything about her was perfect, and the fact that she could cook was like icing on the cake. But would someone like her ever even consider Takashi to be datable?

"Dinner will be ready soon. I'm making lunch for tomorrow too." God, there was something about women who could cook well that turned Takashi on. Consider it a fetish. He slowly moved towards the kitchen, speaking.

"You're a real life-saver, Senpai. It's so tough now that…" Takashi stopped abruptly as he entered the kitchen. What he saw in front of him made him rub his eyes. Was he dreaming? Saeko stood in front of the stove, cooking. But that was not what startled Takashi. It was what she was wearing that stopped all his mindly functions. She was wearing nothing but her underwear and an apron. Damn even her bra was missing. The sight was enough to make him blush. Saeko looked confused.

"What's wrong?" Saeko spoke, blissfully unaware of a man's primal needs, Takashi had to wrestle mentally with his penis for control. There were times to be stiff, but this wasn't one of them.

"N-Nothing at all!" Takashi tried to play it cool, gaining control of his mental boner, but Saeko wouldn't have it that way, and Takashi noticed that even Saeko looked slightly drunk. Why the hell was everyone drunk?

"You don't have to be shy, Takashi, If it's about my clothes, well, I couldn't find any here that would fit me. On that note, do you have some free time? I would enjoy your company." Takashi noticed that Saeko was blushing. Wait a second, she was blushing. And he was the reason why. He mentally thanked god, one never lies under the influence of alcohol. But he didn't need alcohol to tell Saeko how he felt about her.

"Takashi, I don't know what's wrong with me, but whenever I'm around you, I feel…calm, almost as if I don't need to fight anymore. I want to be near you, I want to protect you from 'them'. And I know, together we can survive this. But the thought that we'll go our separate ways once this is over really hurts me. I've only ever liked one person, and that person turned me down. I don't know how love feels. But what I feel for you is how I've always imagined it to be." Saeko spoke. Alcohol and genuineness mixed in her voice. Takashi just sat there, next to her. He knew what he had to say but found it hard to find the right words for it.

"I like you, Saeko. And I know that this isn't the right time for me to ask someone to be my girlfriend, but I also realize that this might be the only time we've got. Will you be my special somebody?" Shit, the only line that really mattered in his small speech was the one that he had replaced with what a twelve year old would say to his best friend. Saeko laughed a bit, and then kissed Takashi, surprising him. Takashi returned the kiss. He had never imagined that he would become so close to someone in nothing more than a day, but this felt right. It felt better than what he felt for Rei. Saeko could heal his broken heart. He didn't just want her, he needed her.

"Jesus, can someone get something to eat in here?"

Takashi and Saeko sprang apart, they saw Bakyura enter the kitchen, he was shirtless and was drying his hair, half of his hair color had already come off and the other half was following suit, Takashi felt bad for the towel in his hand. Bakyura looked at the two of them with disinterest in his eyes, and then made a mad dash for the pot on the stove. He took off a lid and looked at the contents. He sighed.

"Burnt, All of it. Precious food, we salute you and shall always remember how you died for the cook's sins." Saeko looked at the pot, a horror filled look in her eyes. Bakyura looked at them again and sighed.

"You two can continue whatever the fuck you were doing, at least you two have graduated beyond just giving each other loving stares. I mean Jesus fuck, it took you people that long to figure it out?" Takashi couldn't understand what Bakyura was implying till he looked at Saeko's blushing face. Then it hit home.

"Y-You liked me back in school? Before all this even started?" Takashi's face had an incredulous look. Saeko blushed harder. She looked up at him; her eyes answered his question before she even opened her mouth to speak.

"Y-Yes!" Saeko blurted out. Takashi embraced her, kissing her repeatedly as her eyes watered with tears of happiness. Bakyura couldn't give a damn though, he found a pack of bacon and started frying it, frugal food for a bad cook. He sighed. Takashi and Saeko were still making out as he sat down on the dining table. He made a small ruckus as he almost tripped over the chair he was pulling out. Saya, who was sleeping on the couch behind him, opened her eyes a bit. Not able to believe what she saw.

"Half naked Bakyura, Hmm. Nice dream indeed." Her eyes closed again and she began snoring lightly. Bakyura sat down facing her and started eating. She looked really cute as she slept. He couldn't help but smile. Among all the people he knew, she was the only one he had missed, but why so? That was something he couldn't explain.

Bakyura was just about to bite his bacon when he heard a dog's bark outside the house. Almost as if on cue, Hirano ran downstairs, followed by Hisashi, who had been making out with Rei on the stairs. They were yelling Takashi's name. Takashi stepped out of the kitchen, followed by a blushing Saeko. Hisashi ran up to Bakyura.

"Bakyura-Senpai! You have to see this!" He yelled. Bakyura got up from his seat, looking longingly at his dinner. He sighed as he left it on the table and followed Hisashi to the roof.

Maybe he wasn't meant to have dinner. But he couldn't say the same about 'them'. The first night was when the horror of the outbreak truly settled in, the night when it truly began.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTES – Part 2**

**Many of you will be pissed that I shipped Takashi and Saeko so fast (chronologically, they met on that same day) but it was necessary for further plot development. I used this chapter to give a bit of Bakyura's mind to the readers to chew on. **

**Other than that, you, I want you to review. Just do it. Give me love, give me hate, give me reasons to masturbate!**

**Okay, maybe not. But seriously, your reviews mean a lot to me.**


	5. Chapter 5 : Mad DEAD

**Life Among The Dead – Chapter 5 – the mad DEAD**

**Hello there folks! I'll have to begin by saying that I won't be able to update for a month now. And I see that you people have reviewed, or at least two of you have.**

**RG9ALLEN – Your complements flatter me, I'm not nearly as good a writer as you think I am, but if you enjoy my work, it makes it even more worthwhile. And as for sending this story to the studio, I don't think that's how it works :P I would love it if you keep reviewing, constructive criticism is also appreciated.**

**Axular – Sir, thanks to your fiery first review; I was forced to rethink my story a bit, which actually made the whole thing attain a better flow in my mind. So I owe you quite a bit. And there will be a love triangle later on. Well, not really a triangle, more of a chain. I had planned to hook them later on but the timing seemed better now.**

* * *

"This looks bad…"

Hisashi was the second person to reach the second floor balcony, Yuuki was already there. She was staring at the street below them, shock in her eyes, it seemed that a large group of 'them' had arrived on the street, and among them were a few survivors, well, their numbers were decreasing by the second.

"Do you think we should shoot?" Kohta spoke, looking at everyone else. Yuuki also looked at the people who had gathered on the Balcony, she had a mini heart attack when she saw Bakyura standing at the door, shirtless. Now that was a sight for sore eyes.

Bakyura jumped, catching the rim of the roof. He hauled himself up, quite an impressive feat considering that he had a sword that easily weighed thirty kilos on his back. "I'mma go and check out the other side, contrary to what you people think, this place does have a back door." Bakyura's point was valid. Yuuki kept staring at him till he disappeared on the other side of the roof.

"I don't think we should shoot, 'they' react to sound. Also, survivors will come flocking here when they see our lights and hear the sounds of our weapons. However, even if we use everything we have, we don't have the power to keep that many people alive." Saeko was voicing her opinions, and Takashi couldn't deny that her words rang true.

"They have to survive on their own. Isn't that exactly what we are trying to do too? I'll understand if you disagree. But look for yourself. You must get used to this. By now, the world has become a place where those with noble causes alone won't survive." Saeko sure had a way with words. Everyone on the room seemed to be agreeing with her. But then, Yuuki stepped forward.

"I understand what you are trying to say, but if we forget that we are humans, if we forget the compassion one human feels for another, if we forget how to love, is our survival really worth it? Killing them is a different thing altogether, it's the same thing as breaking a doll, no matter how lifelike it looks, it is still dead. But leaving other humans to die? Have we fallen so low already?" There were tears in Yuuki's eyes; Kohta had never expected that Yuuki would be the emotional type. She always looked so strong and independent in school. Guess everyone had that emotional side that they didn't want others to see.

Saeko looked taken aback. That's when Takashi noticed a young girl and her father running away from the undead. They had gained quite a bit of ground and were now running to the house on the other end of the block; the house's lights were on, a dead giveaway that there were survivors holed up in there. The child's father knocked a few times on the door, and the door opened. Hisashi sighed with relief; it seemed that the little girl would live. But then a makeshift spear stabbed the father from inside the house and he fell, presumably dead. Takashi's grip on his binoculars tightened. He had to do something. But Kohta got to it before he could even think up a plan.

"LET'S ROCK AND ROLL!" Kohta shot once, nailing the zombie closest to the child straight in the head. Hisashi looked at Kohta; He had scored a headshot form a stranger's gun at that range. Kohta looked confident enough in his ability to shoot the rifle in his hands. Takashi looked at Hisashi, the urge to do something on his face. Hisashi looked at the room behind them. Then he noticed the two bikes parked in the garage. He saw the exploding bolts in his hands. A plan formed in his mind and a confident smile came over his face.

"Takashi, I have an idea. But you'll have to be very very stealthy. So I say we go and save that little girl. Huh?"

Takashi looked at Saeko. "I'm sorry, Saeko-san, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I don't do this." Saeko merely smiled. "The man has made his decision; I know that already, of course. We'll take care of things here." Takashi smiled. The fact that Saeko was supporting his decision just made his feelings and respect for her grow.

Hisashi picked up his crossbow. Rei slowly walked over to him, she was smiling. Hisashi never mentioned it to her but he started developing feelings for her the first time when he first saw her smile genuinely a year ago. Rei handed him a revolver. Hisashi looked at it. He passed it back to her. "There's another brave man here who needs this more than me, go give it to him." Rei looked at Hisashi, the man she loved, when did he turn into such a hero? She kissed him and walked towards Takashi, who was wearing his jacket.

"Hey Takashi, at least take this with you." Takashi looked at what Rei was offering him; it was the revolver he had scavenged from the destroyed police car. He took it from her, smiling as he did so. He stepped out with Hisashi, who had found the keys to Bakyura's Ducati. As they took their positions behind the gate, Takashi leaned towards Hisashi and spoke.

"You do know that Bakyura's gonna kill you for this, right?" Takashi spoke. Hisashi laughed.

"He probably will, That is, if 'they' don't get us first.

* * *

Bakyura was standing on the other side of the roof, staring at the road behind the apartment, forty three zombies. In front of the kids, he'd run away from this big a horde, but now that they weren't watching. He could use a little serious exercise. He took the sword off his back, testing its balance, with his strength, this weapon would possibly be the deadliest thing he would be able to find, at least to kill zombies. He stood on the roof, sword in hand; he smiled wickedly as his dark side took over.

He never denied it, he enjoyed killing, and tonight would be a massacre, a massacre of joy. Bakyura started laughing as he leapt off the roof, sword poised to strike, the horde in front of him.

It was these moments of his life that made it worth living.

* * *

"Okay, we are ready to go!" Hisashi yelled out as he accelerated on the first gear, making a hell load of noise and attracting the zombies away from the girl. Hisashi jumped over the ramp the girls had set up, followed by Takashi. The girls closed the gate behind them. Hisashi and Takashi quickly made their way towards the house the little girl was in, dodging the undead and following the paths that Hirano cleared for them with his amazing marksmanship. They both skidded in front of the house at equal speeds, letting their bikes slide off to a distance, both the bikes stopped in a messed up heap a few hundred meters away from them, the bikes were stuck in neutral and the accelerators were stuck at maximum with duct tape, which was the reason why Hisashi and Takashi couldn't break from the get go. 'They' completely ignored the two teenagers and started moving towards the bikes, which were making sounds like dying children.

Speaking of children, Takashi had already made short work of all the zombies in the yard. The girl was huddled in a corner, a dog was licking her. Takashi walked over to her and started consoling her. He then moved to where her dead father lay, he took a sheet from the ones that were hanging outside and put it on him, closing his eyes as he covered his face. He took some flowers from the garden; Hisashi recognized them, Cypress, the flowers that signify death and morning. He couldn't help but chuckle at the coincidence.

"Hisashi, I've got the kid, now let's get the escape plan going." Hisashi nodded, this part of his plan depended on how well he could use the crossbow, even though the crossbow had a scope, Hisashi would have to be extremely lucky to get a shot in. All of 'them' out on the road were now concentrated around the bikes. The stage was set; he had to do his part now. Hisashi climbed up on the house's outer walls and crouched down, taking aim at the fuel tank of Bakyura's bike. He let the explosive bolt fly, time slowed down around him as he saw the bolt sail towards the bike in slow motion. The bolt struck the tank right over the Ducati sign.

The bikes exploded.

All of 'them' that were surrounding the bike were blown to bits; the shockwave of the explosion threw Hisashi off balance, making him fall back into the house's yard. He got up immediately and made a mad dash for the gate, Takashi followed. The front road of Shizuka's friend's house was overrun with zombies; Saya poked her head over the wall and yelled "We're getting the humvee, meet up with Bakyura in the back lane. We'll pick you up.

Hisashi changed his direction, moving towards the back of the house. The little girl tripped, Takashi stopped to help her, gesturing Hisashi to keep running. He turned the corner and what he saw almost made him puke.

He saw a mountain of corpses, easily eighty of them, all of their heads were missing, scattered around the road. Blood stained the whole road and the walls of the houses around the road. It was like a red nightmare. Then he looked up and saw the reason for this carnage, Bakyura was sitting on top of the pile of undead, his gigantic sword propped on his shoulder. The expression on his face was one of a feral beast; it scared Hisashi more than anything had ever done. This was the true Bakyura. He looked up again to see that Bakyura had disappeared. He turned around to see Bakyura behind him. The look on his face had returned to normal, yet Hisashi could not stop his legs from shaking. Bakyura leaned towards Hisashi and spoke.

"Now you know."

Hisashi closed his eyes, expecting Bakyura to strike him down, but the attack never came, instead Bakyura's face had a huge grin on it, a rather goofy one at that.

"This sword is good; killing 'Them' was never easier. So what's the plan now?" Bakyura spoke. Hisashi regained control of his body, dispelling the fear he felt. Bakyura had done nothing wrong. The more of 'Them' he killed, the better it was for them. He realized that this man was dangerous, but he couldn't have found someone who could kill as well as this man could. It would certainly be advantageous to have him around.

_All I can do is hope he doesn't turn against us._

Bakyura moved away from the road, as if on cue, the humvee came out of the house, blasting through the horde of zombies. It picked up Takashi and the little kid from where they were standing. Bakyura and Hisashi ran towards the Humvee. Bakyura leapt up and landed on the Humvee's roof while Hisashi dove in through the open window, landing on Rei. He noticed that Takashi was sitting between Rei and Saeko. He smiled.

"It seems Bakyura has no idea what happened to his bike, he's sure to kill you when he remembers." Takashi spoke.

Hisashi gulped. At this rate, Bakyura might actually kill them. It was just a matter of when.

He just hoped it wouldn't happen anytime soon.

**Okay peeps! Chapter five is officially complete. Again, thank you for reviewing, I have found that I really enjoy reading your views and criticism about my story. Remember, every time you refuse to review, somewhere in this world, a cute little bunny gets run over by a lawnmower.**

**So, save the bunnies, do review.**

**-CruelRuin**


	6. Chapter 6: Stuck among the DEAD - Part 1

**Life Among the Dead – chapter 6 – Stuck among the DEAD- part 1**

**Author's note – I know I said I won't be updating for a month, but who knew that writing a fanfic during exams could be such a good stressbuster? I'll keep updating, but only when I have a substantial gap between two exams or so.**

**Draco38 – Sir, it is an honor to have you review my story, I read Time Trax of the DEAD and Living with the dead, and the fact that you have dyslexia and can still write such amazing works of fiction makes you one of my most respected writers on FF. Thank you for your review and I would love it if you would continue reviewing my work. (just BTW, it's not a SayaxKohta fanfic. You might love or hate what I have in mind.)**

"Row row row your boat,

Gently down the stream.

Merrily merrily merrily merrily,

Life is but a dream!"

Bakyura groaned, he was hungry AND pissed off, the fact that he was on the roof of a humvee crossing the shallows of the river with no food in sight just served to aggravate him further. Kohta and Alice (the kid's name was Alice, no idea why her parents didn't give her a Japanese name) were doing a duet. Bakyura couldn't help but wonder which one of them had the worse voice. He put on his headphones and started browsing through his music collection. Maybe he could find something that would take his mind off food. His finger hit some random part of his phone's screen. But the song that came on was one of his favorites.

_"There must be some kind of way out of here," _

_Said the joker to the thief, _

_"There's too much confusion, _

_I can't get no relief. _

_Businessman they drink my wine, _

_Plowman dig my earth _

_None will level on the line, nobody offered his word, hey" _

_"No reason to get excited," _

_The thief, he kindly spoke _

_"There are many here among us _

_Who feel that life is but a joke _

_But you and I, we've been through that _

_And this is not our fate _

_So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late" _

_All along the watchtower _

_Princes kept the view _

_While all the women came and went _

_Barefoot servants, too_

_Outside in the cold distance _

_A wildcat did growl _

_Two riders were approaching _

_And the wind began to howl_

Bakyura opened his eyes as the song ended. Saya's head was popping out from the hole on the roof that was meant for the gun turret, Yuuki was looking at him through the window. Kohta was staring at him with an amazed expression and Alice looked at him with eyes of admiration. What was happening here? He took off his headphones, and then it hit him.

"Was I singing?" Saya looked at him, she was just about to say something when Alice intervened.

"Bakyura-Chan! Please sing one more song! You are soo good!" Saya shut her mouth. She was probably planning to say the same thing. Bakyura was nothing more than a bathroom singer, but for someone who had never heard Jimi Hendrix, his voice would sound rather good. He was also genuinely surprised that the girl could even understand the song. They don't teach a girl that small advanced English, do they? But then again, her name was Alice.

"Sure, kid. Someday else maybe." Someday else meant never, never again. They were approaching the other shore, Bakyura sighed with relief, and maybe he'd get off the hook easy this time. Alice just smiled. She was a good kid, Bakyura thought over what Hisashi had told him about yesterday. She had lost her dad and her mom was missing, probably one of 'them' by now. He wondered whether he could smile like that if something like that happened to him. He scowled. He'd do well not to remember his past. He didn't want to get angry with these kids around.

* * *

A heavy bump woke Takashi up, He wondered where he was. The cramped room he was in was moving. He wondered why he felt like something was leaning on him. Had he fallen asleep while hiding in the broom closet at school?

He looked towards his side, Saeko was sleeping on him. Her head was on his shoulder. Everything came flooding back to Takashi. The outbreak, running from school, saving Alice, everything. He groaned, waking Saeko up. Saeko quickly got her head off his shoulders, blushing as she did so. Then she remembered, she had already confessed to Takashi, so why would she fear leaning on him. Nevertheless, she stretched out, breaking her sleep. Takashi looked at her. Her shyness made him chuckle a bit. He wondered, was it normal for someone to start liking a girl so much in a single day? He couldn't answer the question his mind posed, but it was alright. Maybe this was meant to happen from the get-go. A small smile spread on his face.

"Oy! Sleepyheads! Wakey wakey! We are on the other side of the river." Rei and Hisashi, who were snuggled up on the other side of the seat that Takashi was sleeping on, sprang awake and grabbed their weapons. They looked around for a second before calming down. Takashi noted how much all of them had changed in a single day. The fact that Hisashi and Rei went for their weapons just as they woke up chilled him to the soul. They were nothing but teenagers. This was cruel, the way their lives had been torn asunder by the outbreak.

* * *

"Everyone, let's get out, I don't think we'll be able to climb the embankment with so much load on the car." Bakyura spoke. As always, everyone followed his directions without as much as a question.

"Komuro, help me out here. Let's get down, Alice-chan." Hirano spoke from the top of the car. Takashi held out his hands, grabbing Alice from Kohta's arms, Alice didn't make so much as a noise as she ran off to join Shizuka.

"We're going to get changed, so don't look over here." Rei shouted, Bakyura scowled, as if he was even remotely interested in seeing her naked, he had to get the blood on his body off. He took off his jeans and jumped into the river. Maybe a good swim upstream would get him clean.

Kohta, Takashi and Hisashi looked at Bakyura swimming upstream, and then smelled themselves, realizing that they smelt of blood too. They looked at each other and nodded solemnly, stripping down to their boxers. They jumped into the river and followed Bakyura as he swam upstream.

The girls saw this, looks of confusion on their faces.

"You know, Hisashi and Takashi have bodies to die for." Shizuka spoke up, making Saeko and Rei blush. It probably meant nothing. But Saya had something to say.

"In times like these, it doesn't matter if your body is worth dying for or now, what matters is how well your body enables you to kill."

* * *

A dog barked, startling the three boys who were having a hard time catching up to Bakyura as it is. Takashi looked back and saw the dog they saved last night. Hirano had named the little thing Zeke. Fitting, for the Zero fighter, also called Zeke, was regarded as the best dogfighter in world war two. Takashi was brought out of his thought-reverie when Bakyura passed them, swimming back to the Humvee. Takashi and the others changed direction too. They got back to the Humvee to see that Bakyura had changed, which was not really such a big difference, as the guy had been shirtless since last night. They saw Bakyura throw away his boxers. They it hit them.

They didn't have a change of underwear.

* * *

"Use this, Komuro."

Takashi looked at Kohta, who was holding the Ithaca in his hands. Komuro was feeling breezy downstairs, thanks to having lost his favorite boxers.

"I don't know how to use it… I'd be better off with my bat." Takashi spoke. But it looked like Hirano wouldn't have it that way. He launched into an explanation of how the shotgun worked, and Takashi had to admit that it sounded pretty easy in theory.

"I'm not going to understand it by hearing it once. I'll just use it as a club." Takashi spoke rudely. To be honest, he thought he was being a little too rude. But he knew that it wouldn't build into anything. He was just too exhausted.

"Onii-chan!" Alice's voice came from behind Takashi, making him turned. What he saw made him stop in his tracks. Kohta noticed this and spoke with concern in his voice.

"Dude, what's the…" Kohta's jaw dropped open as he saw what Takashi was looking at. Hisashi, who was surveying the area, had also turned around to look at what they were looking at. His heartbeat sped up. Bakyura, on the other hand, wasn't bothered in the least by what he saw. He just lit up a cigarette and sat down at the edge of the embankment.

The girls were finally done with their changing. And it was well worth the wait. They all looked bloody good, so good in fact that the guys had a hard time gathering their wits.

"ha ha ha ha" Takashi tried a half-dead laugh.

"Fu fu fu fu" Hirano's laugh was more of a sinister giggle.

"Cough cough" Hisashi looked away, he couldn't risk another nosebleed. God knows he didn't want to die due to losing too much blood.

"Bark Bark" even zeke looked as dumbfounded as the boys.

"You know? We should really get moving. The road is empty as far as I can see. It's best if we start moving before any of 'them' show up" Bakyura spoke. He was standing on top of the Embankment. His sword gleamed in the sunlight. Takashi nodded. Climbing up to join him as Shizuka climbed into the Humvee, starting it.

"HERE GOES!" Shizuka yelled as she accelerated, hurtling the Humvee over the embankment. Everyone climbed up the stairs and reached the road on top of the embankment. Bakyura cleared his throat and spoke.

"So, what's the plan now?" Takashi looked at Saya; her house was the closest, followed by his house and Rei's house. "Saya, your house is in 2-choome at Higashi hill, isn't it?" he spoke. Saya looked at him "That's right." She spoke, a hesitant tone in her voice. "I understand we don't have much hope, but…" Saya couldn't complete what she wanted to say, but her emotions made it clear to Takashi that she was worried about her parents.

"Of course! Let's get going then!" Takashi spoke, behind him; Bakyura's phone rang, startling everyone. Bakyura took the cell out of his pocket, looked at the caller i.d. and then looked at everyone else. "I gotta get this, do excuse me." He spoke.

* * *

"Why do you have to call now? You almost got me caught!"

*Yeah, you don't have to hide it anymore; Kirito and I are coming to your location in a few hours. I called up to confirm your location.* this was sudden, why was Shinra coming to Japan?

"If you are hoping to take me back, I hate to disappoint you." He still had work to do. Returning to HQ would have to wait.

*Actually, we were also contracted by the Takagis, Kirito is ecstatic, he hasn't seen his sister in years.* Well, things were looking good.

"I'm going towards the Takagi estate too, will be there in a few hours. And I want you to deal with the explanations. God knows I'm tired of these kids considering me Mr. Goody two shoes already." He only half meant what he said. He had kinda grown attached to the kids.

*Yeah sure. And just by the way, Shizu is safe, right?* There was genuine concern in Shinra's voice. Bakyura couldn't help but chuckle. He looked at Shizuka, she was happily playing with Alice.

"Yeah, she's fine alright."

* * *

**Author's notes – I really had no ideas for this idea. So I'm really not impressed with how it came out. Don't let it get to you. The next chapter is a doozy. And PLEASE REVIEW! **

**Music - All along the watchtower - Jimi Hendrix/ Bob Dylan**


	7. Chapter 7: Stuck among the DEAD - Part 2

**Life Among The Dead – Chapter 7 – Stuck among the DEAD – Part 2**

**I got no reviews for chapter 6, shame on you people, if you read an author's works, you can always take out some time to review it. It keeps the author motivated, and in turn, the author produces better works. **

**You people really should review, I always feel like no one is really reading my fanfic as a whole, this is what made me put my other fanfic on hiatus. **

**So if you don't want this story to go down the same way, you should review. You do that and I'll keep churning out chapters. Do I make myself clear?**

**Good, now on with the story.**

"LEFT! TURN LEFT THERE!"

Bakyura was leaning on the car's roof, Hisashi and Rei were right under him while Takashi and Saeko were positioned right behind them on the back part of the roof, together, they were giving directions to Shizuka, who was driving in frenzy, visibly scared.

"What's going on? The closer we get to Higashi hill's 2-choome, the more of "them" there are!" Takashi's point was valid; they had encountered almost none of them for the last ten miles or so. But as they got closer to the Takagi estate, the number of "Them" kept increasing.

"There must be some reason." Hisashi spoke as Shizuka ran over a number of "them". Bakyura marveled at how well Shizuka had adapted to the situation. She ran "them" over without any mercy. But then, he could say the same about all of them. They had all become Machines of war. He just hoped they wouldn't be forced to kill humans anytime soon. He didn't want these kids to become killers.

_Like me._

Bakyura snapped out of thoughts as the Humvee started to skid. Shizuka was breaking, but why? He looked forward to see the reason for her reaction. And almost instantly, he braced himself.

A wire fence blocked the way to 2-Choome, who the fuck would fortify an area with live wires within a day? Bakyura thought as he hurtled along with the Humvee, which was now spinning out of control. He looked down to see that the car was skidding on "their" guts and blood. Fan-fucking-tastic.

The car hit the Wire fence sideways; it didn't topple, as expected from the overloaded humvee. "Sensei, the tires are locked!" Kohta shouted "Let go of the breaks and hit the gas just a little bit!" Shizuka nodded and did as Kohta said, but her nervousness made her accelerate just a little bit too much. She panicked and pulled the handbrake.

The car lurched forward, Rei and Bakyura were thrown off the car, and Bakyura pirouetted in midair and landed on his feet, catching Rei as he went. He quickly Put her down and surveyed the damage to the car, it was trashed. Hisashi Jumped down and took out one of "them" that was getting close to Rei. Rei lifted her bayonet and joined in. Bakyura looked towards his left, there were at least a hundred of them here, and more were joining in.

"This is bad" Saeko spoke, landing next to Bakyura, followed by Takashi, who was holding his shotgun. Saeko lifted her sword. Bakyura followed her, surprising her. He smiled. "A good day to die as any, isn't it?" Saeko gulped. Bakyura didn't fear death. Her father once told her how a man who doesn't fear death is the most dangerous adversary one can face. She was just happy that Bakyura was a friend, not an enemy. But the maniacal side of her wondered, how joyous would it be to fight someone like him?

Saeko shook her head and charged, taking out two of "them" with one slash from her wooden sword, Takashi shot his shotgun, missing completely.

"Aim a bit lower, Takashi! You have to factor in the recoil before you shoot!" Kohta shouted from the humvee, he was shooting "Them" with his sniper and Yuuki was supporting him with her revolver whenever he was reloading. Kohta looked at her, the beautiful girl was a natural, with some basic training, she could become a great asset to the team.

Takashi followed Kohta's instructions, immediately rewarded by the deaths of two of 'them' with a single shot. Bakyura could see that Takashi was happy with the weapon. But there were too many of them and he lacked ammo. Bakyura sighed as he beheaded four of 'them' with one slash.

_This is gonna take time. I just hope I don't flip._

* * *

**Meanwhile**

"What do you mean I can't go to help them?"

"Lady Takagi" a man with a British accent spoke, making the woman who was arguing with the butlers look back. The smile on her face couldn't have been wider as she saw the two young adults who she was so familiar with.

"Shinra and Kirito!" she said as she hugged the two. Kirito, her eldest son, and Shinra, the kid she had cared for in his teenages for three years. She regarded him and his brother as family. They had returned from overseas to help the Takagis. After all, in such times, one wants to make sure that family and friends are safe.

"You two are coming with me, Saya and her friends have been spotted at the blocked east entrance to 2-choome. They are surrounded by zombies and cannot escape unless we help." Lady Takagi spoke, getting straight to the point, Shinra sighed. He had just gotten off a helicopter after an eight hour flight; he was dead tired, though he couldn't say the same about Kirito, who had slept all the way.

"Lady Takagi, you cannot go with these two, there are hundreds of 'Them' on the way, and you would need a small army to get through to that exit, that's the only reason we had to abandon it in the first place!" The head butler spoke, Shinra had to admit, the man was loyal. But Don Takagi was that kind of man; one couldn't help but be affected by his leader's aura.

"Sebastian, I'm going with these two, and as you already know, they are stronger than any army we could muster. Plus, I would never be able to forgive myself if my daughter died just because I was too scared to act. I just hope that they can last till we get there."

Shinra giggled, causing everyone to look at him. Kirito had a small smile on his face as well. "Actually, the only reason we need to go is to deactivate the fence and allow them to pass through. An army of the undead couldn't so much as lay a finger on Saya." Shinra's words shocked Lady Takagi and the butlers.

"H-How can you be so sure?" Lady Takagi spoke. Shinra smirked.

"My brother is with them, after all."

* * *

**Meanwhile**

Saeko was exhausted. He fell back to the Humvee, there was no end to 'Them'. The more they killed, the more joined the horde, appearing from the buildings and lanes around them. Takashi had dropped his shotgun and was using his crowbar to kill 'Them'. Bakyura was slashing them apart, but even with his speed, they were getting nowhere.

She was startled as the door of the Humvee opened and Saya stepped out, picking up Takashi's shotgun, Yuuki also stepped down, holding Saya's old stun baton. She had run out of ammo. Saeko leaned against the car, her lack of sleep catching up with her. She just wanted to lie down and rest. She looked at Takashi; he was trying to stop 'Them' from getting to the car. He was sweating like crazy, but he kept fighting. Saeko closed her eyes.

"HOW COULD I DIE HERE? MY HOUSE IS JUST A LITTLE FURTHER DOWN THE ROAD!"

Saeko's eyes opened as she saw Saya charge through the undead, shooting through them with Takashi's shotgun, joining Rei and Hisashi in the fray. Rei and Hisashi scattered and fell back. What they did not realize is that they left Saya, who was weak in melee combat, all alone in the middle of the undead. She shot twice more before she ran out of ammo. Bakyura saw the undead shuffling towards her, something inside him snapped. He quickly slashed his way to Saya, protecting her from 'Them'. He couldn't let any of them die, not when they were so close to being saved.

"Here we go, Alice-chan. You and Zeke jump over the wire together!' Kohta spoke, trying to act cheery. He had to get Alice away from here, she deserved to live.

"But what about everyone else?" Alice spoke, catching Kohta off-guard. Kohta regained his smile and spoke "We'll all follow you in just a minute."

"You're lying!" Alice shouted. "My daddy had that same face right before he died! NO NO NO NO! I don't wanna be alone! I'm staying with Kohta-Chan and Bakyura Onii-Chan and everyone else! I'll stay with you forever!"

Kohta sighed. He was about to Launch Alice to the other side of the fence when he heard Bakyura's voice. It was distorted. It chilled him to the bone.

Bakyura was singing.

"The Queen of Hearts,

She made some Tarts

All on a hot,

Summer day,

The knave of hearts,

He stole those tarts

The mad queen said,

OFF WITH HIS HEAD

OFF WITH HIS HEAD

OFF WITH HIS HEAD."

On the last line, Bakyura slashed, decapitating a dozen of them. Saya looked up from her cowering position. What she saw chilled her. The Bakyura she knew was gone; in his place was a maniac, a bloodthirsty maniac. Hisashi saw this and retreated towards the car. Bakyura had snapped. No one should get in his way.

Bakyura's fighting style changed completely, not to mention he became much, much faster and stronger. He was using that gigantic sword of his with a single hand, only going for decapitations with deadly precision, cutting a dozen heads with each slash of his. A minute later, the undead were completely thinned out. It took the mad Bakyura a few more minutes to take care of the remaining undead. In the end, he stood in the middle of the corpse-filled road. Laughing like a maniac.

"No more heads to cut today,

The queen shall return another day!"

Bakyura collapsed, the scary look on his face fading away. He was extremely exhausted. Saya saw that Bakyura was back to normal, she ran towards him, completely ignoring the fact that he had just slain over two hundred of "them".

She tripped and fell, her ankle getting twisted. She looked back to see that one of 'Them' had survived. It was probably one of Takashi's or her botched attempts at using the shotgun. The undead crawled towards her with surprising speed. She crawled back, waiting for it to bite, her last thoughts of being with Bakyura swirling in her mind. She screamed.

The sound of her scream was blocked out by the sound of a high caliber sniper rifle firing from the building next to the road. The bullet from the gun lodged itself in the undead's head before it could bite Saya. Bakyura ran to her, a look of genuine concern in his eyes.

"Saya! Are you alright?" He spoke, Saya looked up at him, a small smile on her face.

"Now I am."

"Hey, am I being ignored here? A little 'thank you' is always appreciated" The sniper shouted from the top of the building. Saya could swear his voice was familiar.

"You are late, you nimwit!" Bakyura yelled back, the man on the building used a grappling hook to climb down; he was followed by another man with long red hair and two swords. Bakyura looked at the wire fence. Someone was there, helping the others get across. It looked like they were safe for now. He breathed a sigh of relief. The two helmeted men reached him. He knew well enough who they were. He smirked at them.

"You go help the others, I'll get Saya." Bakyura spoke, the two nodded and left. Bakyura held out his had to Saya, who took it and tried to get up, only to keel over in pain. Bakyura held her, making her blush. He picked her up, bridal style. "You have a swollen ankle. I'll carry you to the estate, it's the least I can do." Saya blushed harder, and then looked at the others, who had already crossed the fence. She sighed.

"Okay, but move slowly, okay?" Bakyura was confused as to why Saya wanted him to move slowly, but he shrugged and started moving towards the Takagi estate.

Saya put her hands around him, Bakyura thought nothing of it, she probably just wanted the support. But Saya meant more by it; she had dreamed of something similar to this quite a number of times. And in the end, it always saddened her when she woke up.

_Maybe this all is a dream too, but even though it is more of a nightmare, I don't want to wake up._

* * *

**Again, I got some ideas for this chapter, like the queen of hearts poem from this manga called Pandora Hearts, it's a good manga, and you people should check it out.**

**Other than that, please, review. I don't want this story to go into hiatus, but if stuff keeps going like this. It might just go down like my other story.**


	8. Chapter 8 : Assassin of the DEAD

**Life Among The Dead – Chapter 8 – Assassin of the DEAD**

**Okay, here it is, I'll be revealing Bakyura's line of work and motive in this chapter. And quite a number of you reviewed the last chapter. I'm thankful for that and I hope you'll keep reviewing, the more the support, the better the chapter.**

**And to MikeOfTheDead, yes I know about the fact that HOTD is resuming from the next issue of 'Dragon Age'. **

**I would like to address you people about that, I need your opinions. Should I continue with the Canon story or should I branch off after the Mall episode like I had planned? I'll stop writing till I have a proper answer to this question.**

**Now, continuing with the story.**

* * *

"So, you don't plan to tell them yourself?"

Shinra was still wearing his helmet as he walked alongside Kirito, who hadn't removed his helmet either. Behind them, Bakyura slowly shuffled along, Saya was asleep in his arms. He couldn't blame her, fighting that huge horde of 'them' had taken its toll on all of them. Bakyura just wanted to fall down on a bed. As if on cue, his stomach grumbled.

_I should probably eat something before I pass out._ Bakyura thought. He looked at Shinra. "There's no point, I'm tired and I'd rather have you tell them, if they get out of hand, you can knock them out and I'll kidnap the objective and escape." Shinra just nodded, looking at the rest of the group. They were all tired, and even if they were completely rested, they couldn't stop Bakyura even in his weakened state.

"But, will you be able to leave them behind?" Kirito spoke up. He raised a valid point, the group had all grown close to Bakyura, most of them trusted him and all of them relied on him. If he left them, they could easily die. If they got caught between a few hordes of 'them' like earlier, they wouldn't stand a chance.

"I'll probably have to leave them anyways. Once you tell them my history, I don't think they'll want me around." Bakyura grinned half heartedly. Why had he grown attached to these kids?

"We'll see about that tomorrow, for now, just relax." Shinra spoke, Bakyura swore he could see Shinra's trademark grin under the blackened glass of his helmet. Shinra's attire reminded him of his own. He was still half naked and it was getting damn cold.

"And just by the way, you did get my stuff, right?" Bakyura asked. Shinra nodded. The Takagi estate's gates came into view and audible sighs escaped from the mouths of almost everyone in the group.

They could finally rest.

* * *

Bakyura woke up with a start; he was sweating like a pig. That nightmare of his would be the death of him. It was still dark outside, he checked the time in his mobile. 5 A.M. He sighed, he wasn't gonna go back to bed anytime soon. He looked around, the Takagis had left his old room just as he remembered it, and they hadn't even taken down his posters. He looked at the wall across the bed and saw Dio staring at him from his position in his poster. Bakyura got off his bed and looked around, He noticed that his suitcase was sitting next to his bed. He wondered whether he should dress up in his work clothes, now that everyone would get to know his actual job, it didn't really matter.

Bakyura opened up the suitcase and checked the contents. There was the bulletproof white fur-lined trench coat, his watch-cum-transmitter, his training clothes and most importantly, his weapons.

He pulled out the two bladed gauntlets from the suitcase; the retractable blades were three feet long each when fully set. They could easily be folded back and stored in the gauntlet. Other than that, there were his greaves made from lightweight titanium alloys. Under them lay a belt full of throwing knives and a silenced pistol. Bakyura wasn't going to use the silenced pistol anyways, but he kept it with him just in case. He quickly had a bath and got ready. He wore his gauntlets and greaves, using the trench coat to hide them. He then looked at the sword he had taken from Shizuka's friend's place. He had no use for it anymore. He left it next to the bed; at least it wouldn't weigh him down this way. Maybe someone around here would be able to use it. But on second thought, no one here possessed enough strength to use such a weapon efficiently. Bakyura looked at his hands, he was so close to finding out the truth about his strength. He couldn't mess up now.

_I'm sorry kids; I might have to leave you behind._

* * *

Six hours later

Mrs Takagi had summoned the group of survivors to the main hall of the estate, apparently she had something to discuss with them. Yuuki looked around; everyone was there except Bakyura and Saya. _Where are those two?_ Yuuki thought, Hisashi was thinking along the same lines. As if on cue, Lady Takagi walked into the room.

"I think we should begin, it's highly unlikely that Saya and Bakyura will join us" She said. Takashi got up from his seat. "Lady, with all due respect, those two are core members of the group, having such a conversation without them would be meaningless." Lady Takagi looked at Takashi. "You can always tell Saya about this conversation later, it is partially my fault that she chose not to attend." Takashi sat down, Lady Takagi had a point.

"What about Bakyura?" Yuuki spoke up. Lady Takagi looked her way. "The reason I have called all of you here is to discuss Bakyura, he now has clearance from higher-ups to reveal his identity to you people. He doesn't want to do it himself, so I'll let these two handle it." Lady Takagi waved her hand and the two people who had escorted them to the estate walked in, removing their helmets as they came in. The taller one had spiky blonde hair, he looked similar to Bakyura, and the other one had long red hair and had fierce eyes like Saya.

"Hey there, kids. Nice t-" The guy with the blond hair could not complete his sentence as Shizuka jumped at him and embraced him. There were tears in her eyes. "S-Shinra, you survived. I'm so happy". The guy named Shinra was visibly uncomfortable. The guy with the red hair just grimaced. Shinra put his arms around Shizuka and whispered "Yes, Shizu, we are all fine. I contacted Rika and let her know that you are alright too." He pulled her away and wiped her tears. Shizuka smiled, not her trademark ditzy smile, but a bright, happy one.

Shinra and the redhead sat down on a sofa with Shizuka. "Okay, I'll continue where I left off, my name is Shinra Lavosier, I'm a mercenary and Bakyura's elder brother. As for my accomplice, who prefers not to speak much, his name is Kirito Takagi, also a mercenary and the eldest child of the Takagis."

"I remember you!" Kohta spoke up. "You were the guy who instructed me when I came to the blackwater training facility!" Shinra looked at Kohta. "Hirano? I could hardly recognize you! But let us save the pleasantries for later. I'm here to discuss my brother. I'm sure you people find it odd that Bakyura is so skilled at killing even though he is a mere highschool student. Am I not right?" A few nods greeted Shinra's words. Hisashi racked his brains; this was the best chance for him to learn more about Bakyura.

"I'll put it simply; Bakyura is an assassin, one of the best too, if not THE best."

And then, there was shock. For two minutes, everyone was silent. Then Hisashi spoke up. "A-An assassin? What the hell is an assassin doing in highschool?" Shinra looked at him, disinterest lined his face. "Simple, he was an assignment, more specifically, guard duty. Now you may think it's odd that an assassin is working as a guard, but there's more to it than meets the eye."

"W-What could that possibly mean? Who the hell would need that kind of protection? Hell, who the fuck could afford that kind of protection?" Hisashi spoke. Shinra's expression turned to one of anger. "Kid, you are pissing me off, you DO know that you are the one who Bakyura was charged to protect, right?"

Hisashi was taken aback. Bakyura was protecting HIM? Why? "Why the fuck would I need protection? My parents are simple scientists! How could they even afford to pay for an assassin?" Shinra leaned back and looked at the ceiling. "He's doing it for free, that is, if you don't consider information as payment."

"Information about what?" Yuuki spoke up. Shinra looked at her "Information about him, of course. Do you think his strength is natural? I'll tell you something, as a small child, he was taken from our parents by the Japanese government, he stayed as a fucking lab specimen for seven years before we could raid the fucking facility and save him, we had to change his name and keep him here, at the Takagi estate for four years so that they wouldn't take him again. What's worse is that he has no memory of what they did to him. The only reason he took up assassination as a profession was to find out what those fucking scientists had done to him. Truth be told, he hates scientists, yet he took the job from Hisashi's parents because they offered him information."

Yuuki was surprised by Shinra's outburst. She quietly sat down. Hisashi looked at Rei; she was still processing all these details. Saeko was quietly leaning against a wall, she probably knew about this already, having spent four years around Bakyura when he was a kid. Did Saya know too? Was that the reason she wasn't here?

"And as for the fact that you feel betrayed, you DO realize that if he had told you about this earlier, you would have attacked him? And I do not doubt that you are a strong group and all, but you have no chance against him even if you gang up on him. Other than that, the easiest way for Bakyura to complete this mission would have been to kill you all, knock Hisashi unconscious and then drag him back to his parent's workplace? Yet he stayed with you. He'll never say it but he cares for you people. But I'm not one to judge, if you want him out of the group, you decide it among yourselves." Shinra spoke.

Saeko looked at Shinra. "I for one would feel much safer travelling with Bakyura; I know that even if he is an assassin, he is still caring. And his combat skills are second to none." Everyone looked at Saeko, as always, she was calm and composed. Takashi got up and spoke. "I've trusted Bakyura from the get go, and that will not change, he's saved our asses more times than I can count. He's good in my books."

Hirano got up. "I respect Bakyura, if not for him, I would have been dead and rotting in the school along with the fuckers who used to bully me. I owe him my confidence." Rei stood up "When the outbreak began, I was the first in the group to get into trouble. He saved me without even knowing me, if a man can be bothered to help others, he is worth trusting, and the past doesn't matter."

Yuuki's eyes watered. "I don't care if he's an assassin; he gave me a new reason to live, to trust in myself. I'll follow him wherever he goes."

Hisashi spoke "If his motive is to lead me to my parents, I'll go anyways. But first we have to find the parents of the others; I'll go with him if he agrees."

"I agree to your demands, Hisashi, and you people should step out, there's quite a scene unfolding outside."

Everyone turned towards the door. Bakyura stood there with Saya, the right side of his face was red and Saya was grabbing his hand almost as if she was stopping him from trying to run away. "I spoke to him, I've known about his 'job' ever since he left Japan." Saya spoke. "And mother, you were right, maybe I DON'T understand everything, but as long as I can be there for my friends as a genius strategist, I don't mind. As for my part of the conversation, I trust Bakyura anyways, simply because he's the same Bakyura I knew as a kid."

Shinra sighed, "Hey there Saya, remember me?" Saya saw him and Kirito and her eyes widened, she ran and tackled Kirito, who laughed as he embraced her. "You've grown, Saya." He spoke. Shinra sighed again "Yeah, just ignore me, right?"

"Bakyura, we've decided to trust you, just try not to disappoint us." Hisashi spoke.

"You hid your true reasons so as to not cause discord among the group and that is an admirable thing. We still trust you. So don't end up doing anything rash, okay?" Yuuki spoke as they all stepped out of the room, leaving Shinra and Bakyura alone.

"… The company policy of anonymity, I thank thee."

* * *

**From the next chapter on, I'll start with a bit of romance, I want you people to help me out here, what pairing do you want for Bakyura?**

**Bakyura x Saya**

**Bakyura x Yuuki**

**Bakyura x some OC**

**Bakyura stays lonely for life.**

**If you people choose Saya, I have a rather interesting development for Kohta that will come in play later on.**

**If you people choose Yuuki, there's a love triangle arc (I haven't really thought this one out.)**

**If you people choose an OC, well, I'll introduce a female assassin with orders opposing Bakyura's**

**And if you people choose to let Bakyura stay single, I'll add a small arc right before the end of the story.**

**And as always, REVIEW! This brain-writing shit ain't easy if I don't have any motivation.**

**Much love,**

**CruelRuin**


	9. Chapter 9 - Feelings of the DEAD

**Life Among the Dead – Chapter 9 – Feelings of the DEAD**

**Hey peeps, sorry for the late update again, I'm just enjoying the days that come between the end of school and the start of college. So I trip through my days and snooze through my nights. I'm still kinda drunk so excuse me if I make grammatical mistakes.**

**Other than that, I'm thinking of starting an 'Ask the characters' thing, I don't know if it'd sit well with the readers, so I want your opinions on my idea. You people can ask the characters questions through Reviews or PMs, and the characters will answer them in their own ways.**

**Other than that, a few misconceptions need to be cleared, or so I understand.**

**Firstly, Axular, if you mean Bakyura's like Jake, then no. He's not a bio-weapon in the resident evil way; the answer comes from Durarara and Persona 4. For details, stay tuned.**

**MikeoftheDead, I modeled the assassin social structure on a more serious version of 'No More Heroes'. A better explanation will be found in this chapter.**

**As for Bakyura's current state within the group, everyone is scared of him to a certain extent, some more than the others. But at this moment, they are dependent on Bakyura's combat ability.**

**Now, on with the chapter, as always, REVIEW!**

* * *

"Oh sure, let's all just assemble in here."

The whole group had barged into Rei's room when she had been sharing a moment with Hisashi. Needless to say, she wasn't too happy about being interrupted and demanded a reason for said intrusion.

"Saya wanted to talk to us about something and you weren't available on the estate's intercom, so we decided to come up here instead" Shizuka spoke as she peeled a banana. Bakyura looked at her as she ate it. Why was it that everything Shizuboobs did looked perverted in some way or the other? _It's probably the boobs. yes, blame it on the breasts._

"So, what is it that's so urgent, Saya?" Rei spoke, still agitated at Saya's timing.

Saya walked to the window and parted the drapes before she spoke. "The next time you set out, I'm not so sure I should accompany your little 'band of companions'"

Shizuka almost choked on her banana, Bakyura couldn't blame her. There were varied reactions all across the room. Bakyura just shrugged, he saw this coming. The girl was back home, it would be logical for her to stay with her parents, adding to that, her house was well guarded and well supplied. If he didn't know Don Takagi personally, he'd guess that the Takagis somehow foresaw the outbreak.

"Saya is right, now that we have bonded with a much larger group, Saya should stay here with her parents. I'd recommend that after all of you are done with your search for your parents, you should return to the Takagi estate with them and wait for the outbreak to thin out." Bakyura spoke

Saya's mood darkened "I know that it's great my parents are okay, they are amazing and I know that they've protected their mansion and stuff, they are the greatest, the greatest, THE FUCKING BEST."

At this point, Saya started to shout, Bakyura noticed the tears in her eyes. She turned around and started to speak again. "Of course it's not like they forgot about their daughter! She's the apple of their eyes!"

Bakyura saw where this was going and left the room, he really hated drama. He lit up a cigarette as he walked out of the room.

Yuuki saw this and followed him; she meant to ask him a couple of things and now was the perfect chance. She looked at Saya, who was shouting out to the world, proclaiming that her parents gave up on her, thinking she was dead. It wasn't like she was gonna miss anything here, so why not catch Bakyura now? She left the room, following Bakyura.

* * *

**Ten minutes later**

Bakyura sat under the big oak tree at the far south end of the complex, this tree was involved in most of the best memories of his childhood, if not in all of them. He felt bad for leaving Saya to fend for herself. He knew the others would help her out of this little phase of hers, but he felt guilty because he couldn't help her even if he wanted to. Dealing with emotions never was his strong suit.

_I should train with my blades; I haven't used these for almost a year now._

Bakyura removed his trench coat and unfolded his blades. The weight of the blades was almost negligible for him; he had realized that such a weapon would be perfect for his type of combat. He tried one of his four homemade forms. Everything was executed flawlessly. Then he launched into a flurry of quick moves to test his balance, using the greaves on his legs for kicks every now and then. No slips.

_Balance, check, strength, no problem, now to see if I can still do THAT._

Bakyura took up a stance, one hand high, the other lowered, the body's balance arched back, one foot planted forward for support.

He launched, taking a small run before he jumped, pirouetting in midair and slashing down with his gauntlet blade with such speed that even for the best martial artist, it would be impossible to follow. He heard the sound of the resultant sonic boom and he felt searing pain in his right hand.

Bakyura dropped to the ground, panting. His right arm was in pain, but it was slowly subsiding. He looked up at the tree and took a moment to admire his handiwork.

The tree had a scar running halfway across its trunk; it went deep into the wood and the tree began to creak. Bakyura stepped back as the tree trunk cracked around the damage line and toppled over. Bakyura cursed under his breath. He could do it, but the slash wasn't sharp, it would break bones but not cut through them. Plus it hurt his hand when he did it.

'H-How did you do that?'

Bakyura turned around to see Yuuki looking at him. Her expression was a mixture of fear and concern. Bakyura let out an audible sigh; he had completely failed to notice Yuuki as she approached him. Tf she was an assassin, he'd be dead before he could react. The mere fact that he had let Yuuki see his strongest attack irritated him.

Yuuki noticed how Bakyura was cradling his right arm with his left. He saw her gaze widen and quickly turned aside so as to hide his hand. A stupid move on his part as it attracted more attention to his wounded hand. Yuuki rushed towards him, taking off his gauntlet. Bakyura winced, Yuuki could make out that his hand hurt more that he let on. There were cuts running all across his hand but weirdly enough, it was almost as if the wounds were closing right in front of her eyes. She looked at Bakyura. The look on his face was one of utter shame.

'I bet you want explanations, do you not?' Bakyura spoke. Yuuki merely nodded. 'Tell me what you wanna know first. I'll tell you everything I know.'

Yuuki thought about it, she had a number of questions she wanted to ask Bakyura, but first and foremost was the fact that he had just destroyed an oak tree without even touching it.

'How did you destroy a part of the Takagi estate without so much as touching it?'

Bakyura sighed, now he would have to explain an advanced physics process to a girl who had never so much as opened a physics book in her life, just dandy.

'When I use my blades for a continuous midair rolling slash, I can line up my hand movement so that I slash right through the tangential point of my circular motion, I simply line this up with the angle at which the axis of gravity coincides with the trajectory of my slash. By doing so i-'

'By doing so, you cross the speed of sound, creating a localized sonicboom and displacing the air in front of you, which accelerates and becomes a lethal attack in its own accord. Am I right?' Yuuki spoke, cutting Bakyura off.

Bakyura stared at her, Yuuki stared back. For a second, no one , Bakyura broke the ice.

'How come you are so calm about this? If you know the phenomenon, you must also know that it's next to impossible to achieve by any normal human!' Yuuki looked at Bakyura, then smiled 'Good job trying to hide your surprise, if you would have attended class more often in school, you would know that I'm the class topper. Other than that, it isn't impossible, but improbable. Even you couldn't execute it properly. And you are physically much stronger than us. I take it that your injuries came from the recoil from the sonicboom, Right?'

Bakyura nodded, Yuuki saw right through him, which was surprising. _Smart and beautiful, this one's a keeper._

'And now, tell me, what exactly does an assassin do?'

Bakyura looked at Yuuki; this question was either incredibly stupid or incredibly smart. Bakyura had just witnessed how Yuuki completely saw through him, it wouldn't be possible for him to just say 'we do assassinations and shit' and walk away. He sighed; it was not like Yuuki could do anything about UAC and its workings.

'Well, have you ever heard of the UAC?' Bakyura asked. Yuuki shook her head 'The United Assassin Control-Unit is a secret organization funded by multiple governments, It was set up in pre WW1 France, many of the world's most famous assassinations have been performed by our Assassins, Hitler didn't commit suicide, for example. One of our assassins made it look like suicide. After world war two ended, the UAC set up a number of private companies like blackwater to produce mercenaries and Assassins. Mercenaries are your standard 'supersoldiers for hire', they are well trained and are much better than most of the army-trained commandos. And then there are the Assassins. We are much stronger than the mercenaries and are masters of stealth and combat. The services of an Assassin are much costlier than the services of a mercenary, or even a whole squad of mercenaries for that matter. Our jobs can range from Bodyguard duties to stealth Assassinations. The mercenaries are ranked on the basis of their success rate and total successful and unsuccessful missions. One can also defeat the person ranked above him to gain his rank. The higher your rank, the more your pay is. Therefore, rank one to five are only hired by the most elite.'

Yuuki looked up at him, she was taking all of this in a rather calm manner, Bakyura expected her to be shocked, but instead, the look on her face was one of genuine concern. She looked hesitant, but then decided to speak nevertheless.

'So, what's your rank?'

Bakyura sighed. He lifted up his watch-transmitter and clicked a few buttons on the screen, his profile popped up and with it, the ranking chart. Yuuki's eyes widened.

'R-Rank one?' Yuuki stuttered. Bakyura sighed. 'Even among us Assassins, my strength is unmatched. It's still not easy to rise up through the ranks, even as a child, I underwent rigorous training, I remember training under this very tree against Raito Busujima. I remember how me and Shinra used to practice all day long just so that one day, I'd be a member of the assassins and I'd be able to live among people who were like me, people born to be weapons. But it was all pointless, even as an assassin, I was too strong to be seen as anything less than a threat. A life that is so pointless that it isn't worth living. Many a times I find myself staring longingly at a gun or a knife, just one press of the trigger, one slice to my neck and it would all end. Hell I should hav-'

Bakyura was cut short by a hand hitting his face. He looked down and saw Yuuki, she was crying. She embraced him, yelling.

'B-Baka! Why would you want to kill yourself? People owe you their lives, me included. The group wouldn't have gotten this far without you. I would never have had the courage to leave Shidou if you weren't there; you gave me a second chance at living an honorable life. And you say you want to kill yourself? You say your life is pointless? You want a job, something to give meaning to your life? Then I order you, stay with me and stay alive!"

Bakyura looked shocked at Yuuki's outbreak. He hesitated for a moment, and then smiled. 'Lady Yuuki, I don't come cheap. I hope you are sure you can afford me?' He jested, returning her embrace.

'I'll pay you when our contract ends. That's my promise.' Yuuki spoke. Half laughing, half crying. Bakyura gently pulled her face up and wiped her tears. Yuuki looked up to see that his eyes were a bit moist too. She just tightened her embrace.

_Just stay with me, forever, please._

* * *

**Okay! That was my first romance centric chapter. The seeds of love have been sown. The seeds of jealousy will be sown soon, I promised you a love triangle, and you'll get one ;)**

**Other than that, I skipped Saya's tantrum altogether because it really established nothing except the fact that Takashi can lift a girl up by her boobs (quite an accomplishment really)**

**Next chapter will feature the return of Don Takagi, Hisashi's parents and his past, Kohta's training under Shinra back in the states, and the entrance of Shidou**

**As always, your reviews keep me going. So reviewwwww!**

**Ciao**

**-CruelRuin**


	10. Chapter 10: Orders of the DEAD

**Life Among The Dead- Chapter 10- Orders of the DEAD**

**Okay, I am disappointed. What did I tell you people about reviews? Sigh, not like I can force you peeps to review anyways. The question stated in my last chapter yet remains unanswered, so please, go answer it now. **

**Other than that, Yuuki was chosen as Bakyura's pair. So I'll be introducing a female OC in the next chapter. I'm dry, so if you have any OC you want to see in this story, PM/review me a bio about the character that includes physical features, likes/dislikes and personality quirks. Consider this a challenge from my side; show me what the authors of FF have in store. :D**

* * *

**The Takagi Estate**

Saeko was walking through the corridors of the estate, lady Takagi had been so kind as to lend her clothes, albeit the only attire that fit from her wardrobe was a purple kimono with heavy embroidery. Saeko was accustomed to light and loose clothing, all the better to move around in, so the kimono was not exactly something she would choose to wear if she was caught in the outbreak.

_But if I WAS bitten, I would probably slip on the hem of this kimono as it is. _Saeko thought, an image of zombies tripping about wearing kimonos formed in her mind, making her giggle. A worker gave her a lustful stare as he passed by. Saeko scowled as she climbed down the stairs into the main hall.

She saw Takashi standing in the main hall, talking to two elders who were carrying what looked like a fridge. The elders casually blew him off and continued on their path, leaving him confused and dejected.

"What's wrong, Takashi?"

Takashi turned around and flinched. His mind stopped reacting and his heart went on overdrive. At the second last step of the staircase stood the most beautiful vision he had ever seen. True, Saeko looked good at any given point of time. But this was different, the purple kimono of hers contrasted perfectly with her hair, the light coming from the windows on the side made her look like an angel. To add to this 'perfect image', Saeko was smiling, a warm smile, unlike the smirk she wore into combat. Takashi felt his legs turn into jell-o as Saeko approached him.

_Think of a response!_

_Think of a response!_

_Think of a response!_

"Damn!" Takashi spoke out loud, startling Saeko, who had almost reached him at this point. She looked at him, concern on her face. Takashi wrestled with his mind for oratorical control, finally shaking the shock outta his system.

"I-I mean, thatlooksverygoodonyou!" Takashi spoke. Not leaving a single pause between his words, how the hell had he even landed a chick this beautiful in the first place? He looked at Saeko to see her blushing, which in turn made his own blush grow redder.

_What sorcery is this? _Takashi wondered.

Saeko looked at Takashi. She was dating the guy, so why was there so much awkwardness? She should be able to be around him without blushing. She sized him up; she realized that all she had ever noticed about him was his personality and firm attitude. This was the first time she was actually noticing his looks as a part of the complete 'him'. She had to admit, he was damn good looking. Medium build, sharp eyes, spiky black hair, she wondered why this guy wasn't an athlete. Did he practice sports at home? Was he into underground fighting? She knew so little about him, yet she liked him. Guess 'love on first sight' really did hold true in real life.

"Thank you, Takashi dear." Saeko spoke as she kissed him on his lips. Takashi hesitated, but then kissed her back, to a casual observer, their 'kissing' would look like a fight, both of them trying to overpower each other with waves of passion. But that is the true beauty of a relationship between two passionate people.

Their tussle for oral dominance was cut short by Zeke's barking. They broke apart just in time to see Alice run past, waving. They waved back. Saeko looked at Takashi "She's a strong girl, last night, she cried for hours and finally went to sleep with Shizuka sensei. She keeps herself strong because she doesn't want to be a burden to the group. She'll make some man really happy when she grows up."

Takashi looked at Alice, who was busy playing with Zeke, his smile faltered. "That is, if we stay alive long enough to see her grow up."

Saeko looked at Takashi as Alice scurried off. She embraced him, he was troubled and she'd stay with him if it made him feel any better. Takashi couldn't help but smile. Even if it was only for the sake of cheering up you fair young lady. He planted a kiss on her head as he hugged her back. They stayed locked together for a few minutes, not giving a fuck about who saw.

Then all of a sudden, the gates of the Takagi estate opened with a loud mechanical noise and a car, followed by a number of other vehicles entered the estate. Takashi looked up, breaking the embrace. "There seems to be quite a ruckus outside, should we go and check?"

Saeko looked up, still blushing. She just nodded as Takashi ran out; she tried following him but tripped on the hem of her kimono.

She saw the ground rushing to meet her face, but she was abruptly caught halfway down. She got up, thanking the person why caught her, she saw a girl with a mask on her face, the girl just nodded and walked away, leaving Saeko confused. Saeko shook her head and slowly walked towards the exit.

_Who was that girl?_

* * *

Here we stand

Worlds apart

Hearts broken in two,

two,

two.

Sleepless nights

Losing ground

I'm reaching for you,

you,

you.

Bakyura was dancing in his room as he listened to the songs in his phone when the door opened, Yuuki peeked in and saw Bakyura, in nothing but his boxers, dancing. She simply found the scene in the room amusing; Bakyura kept on dancing like a weirdo while music blared on his headphones. Bakyura turned around, still dancing, and noticing Yuuki, abruptly came to a halt, letting the slipper he was using as a pretend-microphone drop to the ground.

.

.

.

"This never happened, okay?"

.

.

.

"You got it, boss."

.

.

.

"So, what is it?"

.

.

.

"Don Takagi has returned, I thought you would want to see him. If you didn't have your headphones on, you would be able to notice that he's putting on quite the show in the main courtyard."

.

.

.

"Kay, I'll be right there."

.

.

.

"Okay."

.

.

.

"And again, this never happened."

.

.

.

"You're the boss."

The door closed behind Yuuki with a thud, one could hear her laughing all the way across the corridor. Bakyura sighed, "No privacy in this world, son" he spoke. Putting on his clothes and jumping out of the window to save time.

In his hurried attempt to leave, he forgot that his room was on the third floor.

* * *

The sound of something falling into the bushes behind them served to break their kiss, agitated, Rei and Hisashi turned back to see a bruised Bakyura walking out of the hedge, Rei looked up to see his open window, who could have pushed him?

"One hell of an entrance eh?" Bakyura spoke; he had apparently hit his head as he fell, as one could see the back of his head swell up.

"W-Wha-How in th-" Hisashi started, Bakyura held up his hand, stopping Hisashi effectively.

"Don't ask, don't tell, Hisashi. Now, I have places to be and people to see!" Bakyura spoke as he bounded off towards the courtyard.

There was an awkward silence as he left. Rei and Hisashi just stood there for a moment, trying to figure out what just happened.

"Should we follow him?" Rei spoke.

Hisashi nodded, still trying to process what he had just witnessed.

* * *

"This man's name is Doitetsu Tarou…"

Yuuki was standing behind the crowd at the central courtyard, looking at Saya's dad. Don Takagi was one impressive man. Though she did wonder why said person was standing in the middle of the courtyard with a caged zombie by his side.

She noticed as Bakyura arrived and took the spot next to her. The back of his head was swollen, but he looked okay, hell, the swelling was reducing by the second.

_Note to self, after all this blows over, take him to a proper fucking hospital and have his body checked._

"He has been a friend to me for the last twenty five years. In attempting to rescue one of his comrades, he was bit. It was an act of self sacrifice, the noblest thing a man could possibly do. However…"

Yuuki noticed as the door of the zombie's cage clicked open. At the same time, Don Takagi grasped his sword, still speaking.

"He is no longer human, his life ended when he turned into that abominable thing. And so now…"

The zombie leapt as Don Takagi drew his sword, in a clean slash, he knocked off the undead's head, which sailed off and landed in the fountain, scaring everyone around it.

"Farewell, dear friend."

Don Takagi stepped away from the corpse and addressed the congregation, wiping his sword clean and sheathing it as he did so.

"This kind of 'thing'... great friends, family members, anyone and everyone who gets bit will become one of these 'things'. To live, you must fight. You must kill, no matter who it is. You shall use your strength to save yourself first and your friends second. Fight to live."

"Incredibly effective speech if I say so myself." Bakyura spoke, noticing how everyone was silent, shocked even. Takashi's face looked like curdled milk, Hisashi looked pretty much the same. Kohta's reaction was different though.

"Katanas aren't efficient enough…"

"Don't talk about things you do not know, Hirano-Kun." Saeko spoke, a threatening aura in her words.

"But a Japanese sword's blade dulls whenever it hits a bone, and after a few opponents, the blade becomes useless." Kohta spoke. Bakyura sighed, this was literally a re-enactment of a fight between two of his fellow assassins.

"Listen, following the way of the sword results in a number of things-" Saya was about to launch into an explanation of how the warriors way somehow magically changes the chemical and physical composition of a blade when Shinra stepped up, stopped her.

"You still buy that? I used a katana as my primary weapon when I started off as a mercenary. I almost died thanks to that mistake of mine. Guns are much more efficient for killing. Thanks to long range and high firepower. And as for the fact that guns are useless in short range against melee opponents. I already bypassed that weakness." Shinra spoke, supporting Kohta.

"Remind me why even as a child I never liked you, Shinra? Would you like to go up against my blade and see what is bet-"

Three silenced shots rang out; Saeko's practice sword literally blew apart thrice next to her. In front of her, Shinra held his Barrett 50 cal in his right hand, although the way he held it was weird, it was held upside down, with the stock nestled in his right armpit.

"A sniper's quickdraw, at this point, I have enough practice to fight for extended periods of time on short range using my weapon like this. And for long range-" Shinra flipped the gun. "-I can be ready within a second. So trust me, Saeko. Do not fight angry gunmen who are better than you at combat. You'll live a happy life." Shinra tossed the gun back into his shoulder strap and walked off, leaving everyone dazed.

"Heh, so much for being the quintessential 'easygoing guy'." Bakyura spoke with a sigh. He looked out to the courtyard where Don Takagi was discussing something with some people. He turned away. Talking to the don could wait.

Hirano was smirking. He ran off cackling like a madman. Leaving everyone else standing in the courtyard.

"Don't we have 'things' to do?" Rei spoke to Hisashi. Hisashi looked confused. "What thin-" Hisashi wouldn't complete his question as Rei dragged him away, leaving Saya, Bakyura, Yuuki, Takashi and Saeko behind.

"What's HER beef?" Takashi spoke. He was already irritated about the fact that a random guy had almost shot his girlfriend a minute ago. Rei's hurried disappearance just added to his irritation.

"Bro, she's jealous." Bakyura spoke.

"I know that already, but why is she acting this way?" Takashi spoke. Saeko looked at him, she smiled as she spoke "You two are like the opposite sides of the same coin, sometimes I wonder how you could even stay with her for that long." Takashi smiled and put an arm around Saeko, kissing her on her cheek. "I have you now, don't I?"

"Get a room you two" Yuuki and Saya shouted. Guess it did hurt to be the only two single girls in the group. They continued their squabbling and in the hubbub, no one noticed as Bakyura quietly slipped away. His transmitter was beeping.

_It's the mutiny on the bounty over here. I need to disappear. I cannot be targeted right now. That would only make the fight grow._

Bakyura ran, leaping over the Takagi estate's walls with ease. Behind him, a woman with a shrouded face followed.

_Run, assassin. Soon enough, your ranking will be mine._

* * *

**And that's chapter 10! Next chapter will introduce a new OC (frankly, I have no ideas, please provide female OCs.)**

**Next chapter deals with the first ranking fight, new weapons, a new comrade and the choosing of a leader.**

**And again, shame on you for not reviewing my last chapter. The quality drop in this chapter might serve to remind you to review.**

**So type out your reviews in the box below, there will be no update till I get a feasible OC.**

**For now, Ciao**

**CruelRuin.**


	11. Chapter 11: Friends of the DEAD

**Life Among The Dead- Chapter 11 – friends of the DEAD **

**Hey there people! The manga for Highschool of the dead restarted. But word has it that it is only going to be a one shot because the mangaka can't get his head out of his ass. **

**Other than that, I got two OCs, one Russian from UngratefulDead, and one German from RG9ALLEN. After due consideration and reference from Draco38, I have decided to use the German character for my OC, and she'll be in direct competition with Yuuki for Bakyura's affection.**

**Let me know which one you want to see as the main love interest. The first to hit ten votes will get selected.**

**Votes in PM/reviews only.**

**Again, Read and review, fellas.**

* * *

Bakyura rounded the first corner across the boundary of the Takagi estate, taking a mask out of his trench coat. The assassin after him had not yet seen his face, thanks to his timely evasion. Could he outrun another trained assassin? Would he have to fight to kill? Could he scare off the assassin?

He looked ahead and saw half a dozen undead slowly shuffling out of side lanes. He cursed under his breath as he decapitated one of them. He quietly leapt over the second one and sifted around the others. He jumped over a shabby barricade and saw a group of fifty or so undead.

_Goddamnit! Why did this have to happen now of all times? _

Bakyura drew his arm-blades and started fighting. He felt much more comfortable fighting with these than the Zanbato. The two blades did cut his range, but they gave him speed. It would also be next to impossible for the undead to flank him as the two blades provided him almost complete coverage around him.

After he had cleared out a path to run through, a hail of throwing knives forced him to block. This assassin was after his life, escape would be impossible at this rate. He located the assassin on the top of the house behind him. He turned around, zigzagging through the horde of 'them', using their bodies as cover from the hail of knives. Crossing through the final line of the undead, Bakyura quickly jumped on the fence of the house and using the top plank of wood as a springboard, leapt up to the roof.

Bakyura hit the roof flying and rolled off to avoid more knives, ending his roll with a jump. The other assassin drew a sword, a flamberge to be precise.

_Huh, I feel like I've seen that before_. Bakyura thought as he sidestepped the female assassin's thrusting attack. He stepped in and tried to disarm her but she whipped her sword sideways with the precision of a master. Bakyura had to step back to avoid the incoming blade. But that would leave him open for a barrage of attacks. Instead, he jumped over the woman, using his superior strength and speed to get behind her.

The female assassin reacted without missing a beat, she twisted the grip on her sword while turning, and the sword broke into a whip-blade, with which she lashed out. Bakyura was caught off guard in midair he barely got his blades out in time to block the sword slash. The force of the blow was enough to knock Bakyura into a wall. The female assassin let out an audible sigh. She moved towards the immobile assassin to deliver the killing blow.

"That was good, now, time to get serious."

The female assassin stepped back. Bakyura stood up again, his blades open, a malicious aura around him. His mask (modeled after Hei's mask from darker than black) modified his voice as he spoke, making it sound demonic. He could see the female assassin shiver for a second. She tightened her grip on her whip-blade.

Both of them charged.

* * *

**Meanwhile**

"I'm glad that all of us could finally sit down and have a nice cup of tea in peace."

Shinra looked around the room; all the elders had assembled in the same room for a small meeting discussing the plan for survival. Don Takagi was standing next to the window, watching her daughter squabble with Takashi downstairs. A small smile came to his face.

"It's good having childhood friends, is it not?"

*crash*

Don Takagi turned around to locate the origin of the sound. He followed the gaze of the others to Shinra.

He looked pale as a sheet of paper; the contents of his fallen cup were now spreading out on the floor. Kirito spoke up.

"What is it now?"

Shinra slowly and reluctantly turned to face Kirito. There was a look of horror on his face.

"We forgot to tell Rias about Bakyura."

All color drained from Kirito's face. He switched on his watch transmitter and punched in Bakyura's code.

"They are currently fighting a block away from here."

Shinra quickly dialed up Bakyura's number on his phone, hoping for the best, fearing the worst.

_I hope we are not too late, oh lord, please save that child from Bakyura!_

* * *

The roof was completely destroyed, the assassin's whip-blade lay amidst the carnage, on the edge of the roof, Bakyura stood firm, holding the female assassin in a choke-grip.

_***Ta-ananana na na naaaana naanana na**_*

Bakyura grimaced, a call at this moment? He picked up his phone with his free hand, holding the assassin at arm's length as she flailed in the attempt to get away.

"Shinra! I'm trying to get rid of an assassin here, could you fucking call at a better time? I mea-"

*Bakyura! Don't do it!*

"What? She attacked me?"

*Dude! That girl! She's Ri-*

Bakyura's phone flew away; he staggered back as something hit his face, breaking his mask. The female assassin had thrown her mask at him in order to get away. She hit the ground, unable to get up. Bakyura looked up.

Their eyes met.

"B-Bakyura?" said the beautiful girl with dark blue hair and emerald eyes, her face radiating Happiness and shock.

Bakyura's breath caught in his throat. He couldn't believe it.

"Rias? Is that real-"

Bakyura was cut off as the girl jumped at him, hugging him with all her might. He hugged back.

"I missed you so much!" Rias spoke, looking up. There were tears in her eyes. Bakyura smiled.

"I missed you too, dear Rias."

Bakyura felt Rias's hold loosen; he looked down, noticing that she had passed out. He cursed himself for directly engaging in combat without confirming the identity and rank of his assailant. Luckily, she wasn't heavily wounded. She was obviously drained, to keep up with Bakyura at half strength for ten minutes was not an easy feat. There was a reason why he was ranked first internationally.

_Benefits of a curse, huh._

Bakyura sniggered. He then picked Rias up, noticing how cute she looked when asleep. She had grown over the span of the last two years. Mostly in the places that really mattered.

_Perv alert, I best start moving._

* * *

"Without these guns, I'll go back to being the old me! I thought I had found something I'm good at"

"Such as?"

Hirano was cowering on the floor, surrounded by people old enough to be called uncles. All of the group's weapons were in his arms. Takashi recognized one of the said group to be Saya's father. Sure, Kohta had offended him merely minutes ago, but he'd be damned if he let someone pick on his friend like that. Alice had alerted him in time. He mentally thanked her as he spoke.

"Such as protecting your daughter."

Kohta turned around, a look of surprise and fear mixed on his face. Don Takagi looked directly at Takashi, his face demanded an explanation, emphasis on 'demanded'. The don's gaze could melt wrought iron. But Takashi's resolve was nothing less.

"So, you are Takashi, I've heard your name before. You have been Saya's friend for a long time now, Haven't you?" Don Takagi spoke, trying to put two and two together. Takashi nodded, confirming the Don's statement.

"Yes sir and I would have you know that since all this has started, Saya has… your daughter has been under the protection of Kohta here."

Don Takagi was silent; he seemed to be contemplating whether the young boy cowering in front of him was actually able enough to protect himself, let alone his daughter.

"Kohta-Chan!"

Before anyone could as much as react, Alice ran and embraced Kohta, a defiant look on her face. She looked at the Don with as much hatred as a child could muster. Kohta was surprised to say the least.

"Even I can see how much courage this young man has, Don Takagi."

"And so can I, father."

The group turned back to see Saeko and Saya approach the group. Shizuka, Rei and Hisashi were right behind them.

"I have trained this young man, and I would rather have him be in possession of those guns than any one of your lackeys at the estate."

Don Takagi turned around, Shinra and Kirito stood behind him. Shinra looked furious, and if Don Takagi's glare was deadly, it was nothing compared to Shinra's. The group shivered under his gaze. Kirito Yawned.

"I am ashamed of you, Don Takagi. These kids are guests at your estate. Forcefully taking their weaponry and questioning their courage is something that would be considered vile and unlawful. I'm sure Kirito agrees." Shinra spoke, his presence overwhelmed everyone. Even the Don looked fazed.

"Father, when I reached home, the first thing I did was look for Saya. Mother told me that she was at school when the outbreak happened. You had merely shrugged her aside as a casualty. I was shocked to see that your children mean so little to you. Then I heard from Shinra that the school she was in was the same school where Bakyura and his best disciple studied. She was lucky that she could band together with them and escape. They have been protecting her ever since."Kirito looked calm, but one could feel him suppressing his anger.

"Unlike you"

Saya stepped forward, a determined look on her face.

"He may be a freak and a worthless gun otaku, but it's because of him that I'm here, he's one of my companions! He's been protecting me, unlike you!"

"Did I miss something?"

Everyone turned around; they saw Bakyura walking towards them. In his arms was one of the most beautiful girls Takashi had ever seen. Kohta literally forgot about his situation and started ogling her. Even Hisashi couldn't keep his eyes off her.

Her beauty had an even greater effect on Takagi's henchmen, who were literally undressing her in their minds. All this stopped when Bakyura gave them a death glare that far outclassed any death glare that had ever been given in the history of mankind. The lackeys backed away.

"Bakyura, welcome. It has been years since I last saw you." Don Takagi spoke, his steely glance changed into a warm smile. Bakyura smiled back for an instant. Then saw Shinra.

His glare returned, five times stronger than before. One could see Shinra sweat bullets. The whole group shivered, Kirito gulped.

"YOU, YOU BETTER HAVE A GOD DAMNED EXPLANATION FOR THIS!"

Shinra's face went pale; the lackeys around the group scattered and ran away. The whole group was terrified. What could get Bakyura so riled up, that too at his own brother?

"Leave it, Bakyura. It must have slipped his mind." The girl in Bakyura's arms whimpered. She was tired.

"I'll drop this issue for now. Rias needs to rest. I'll be back." Bakyura spoke, a sharp edge to his voice, he turned on his heel and started marching back towards the Takagi estate.

Bakyura left, leaving everyone dazed. Yuuki approached the group from the courtyard. Confused at what was going on. She approached Saya. Tapping her shoulder and breaking her out of her trance.

"What's going on, Saya? I thought I heard Bakyura shout."

"Yeah, Yuuki. About that. It seems you have competition."

"What?"

"You'll see soon enough."

* * *

"Uggh"

Rias woke up in a dimly-lit room; the first thing she saw as she sat up was a Dio poster on the wall across her bed. Her body hurt in various places, she remembered fighting someone and losing badly, for some reason, she couldn't recall who this person was. She looked around to see that her weapons were on the table next to her. Her injuries had been cleaned and bandaged.

She was naked.

Her face turned red at the thought of her kidnapper seeing her naked. Not red with embarrassment, but with anger. She thought back to the events of the fight. Slowly, the face of her assailant was getting clearer in her mind.

Her concentration was broken by the sound of the door opening, and just as the person walked in, her mind struck gold.

_Bakyura._

"Hey! You're up-"

Rias ran and embraced the figure that came through the door, just to notice that the person who walked in was shorter than Bakyura.

Then, she realized, she was still naked.

She let out a shriek as she pushed out the man and quickly wrapped a blanket around her. _The nerve! Walking into a girl's room knowing full well that she is naked. _

"Who are you!" Rias yelled, still flustered.

"My name is Takashi Komuro, I was sent to fetch you by Bakyura. I had no idea you were naked! Please forgive me!"

Rias sighed. She put on her clothes and walked towards the door. She was just about to open the door when Takashi spoke again.

"Am I forgiven?"

Rias sighed again, "yeah fine, it wasn't either of our faults." She opened the door and got a good look at the boy outside. He was well built, had a handsome face and the sharpish features of a devil. He was about two inches taller than Rias and had a lithe yet muscular body. His smile, coupled with his brown eyes was mesmerizing.

_I'd give him eight, eight outta ten. Damn Bakyura has good looking friends._

Rias smiled back, following Takashi through the Takagi estate. They were passing the main hall when a small commotion near the gate caught their attention. A minibus had just entered the Takagi estate, and a look at Takashi's face told Rias that this bus was bad news.

_What's going on here?_

* * *

Bakyura looked at the Bus drive into the Takagi estate, His expression soured. He heard loud noises overhead, Rei's noises. He sighed.

_Looks like Rias will have to wait, gotta sort out this asshole first._

* * *

**And there's Chapter 11, again, it's now a competition between Rias and Yuuki, and your comments decide the victor.**

**Also, Rias and Takashi are going to be best friends. Support characters, if you will. This way I can branch off into her history (a rather interesting backstory really).**

**Again, your reviews make me move,**

**They make me groove,**

**Oh yeah,**

**Uh hun.**

**Btw, the next update will come early. As a consolation for waiting so long for this one. **

**-CruelRuin**


	12. Chapter 12: Leader of the dead

**Life Among The Dead – Chapter 12 – Leader of the dead**

**This is the first Yuuki x Bakyura chapter, this chapter is rated M, so if you are a kid, you can skip it.**

Bakyura ran down the stairs, following Rei who had just barged through the main door. She was carrying her M1 with her. The only reason Bakyura felt compelled to follow her was because no matter how much Shidou deserved it, manslaughter was still a crime, he realized how ironic his thoughts were. He was, after all, an assassin.

He caught up to Rei in a second and stopped her, Hand around her waist. She struggled violently for a few seconds and then gave up. Bakyura sighed.

"Let me kill that bastard, he's the root of all my troubles. UNHAND ME!" Rei yelled. Bakyura made a disapproving sound and then stared her right in the eyes.

"Killing someone is never the smart way out, Rei." Bakyura spoke; he noted the irony in his words yet again. Next time, he'd simply ask Hisashi to handle such matters. God knows playing peacemaker was not his cup of tea.

"Fat load of bull, coming from you, it sounds like a stoner telling people to quit weed." Rei spoke, spite in her voice. Bakyura knew that even if he let her go, she wouldn't be able to muster the courage to shoot a living human.

"I know that guy is a disgusting example of a human, but it's not like we hold personal grudges against him! As long as he's keeping his group alive, it should be more than enough. Should it not?" Bakyura regretted saying that, as he saw Rei's gaze drop, her indignation disappearing into sadness.

"I-I do have a reason, he was the reason I was forced to drop a class in school, and the humiliation my parents faced because of him. Simply for these two reasons, I find it impossible to forgive him."

Bakyura was shocked. Why would Shidou go out of his way to make sure Rei was forced to repeat a year? He'd have to do a bit of research on Shidou. Given the fact that Rei's father was a fed, He could put two and two together.

"We'll force him to leave here. His group can stay, but he has to leave. If he doesn't leave peacefully we-"

A scream coming from the courtyard cut Bakyura short. Instantly, Rei felt his mood darken. She could feel his hate, and she knew why this hate had appeared so suddenly.

"Was that Yuuki's scream?"

"It was, I'm sure of it."

Bakyura turned and ran out towards the courtyard at a speed Rei couldn't even hope to match. Rei saw him run at full speed for the front gate. She followed.

* * *

Yuuki was walking across the courtyard, Lost in thought. According to Saya, Rias was 'competition' for Yuuki. She had helped Shizuka-sensei in patching up Rias's wounds. She had enough time to compare herself to the girl and she'd be damned if Bakyura prioritized looks over personality. The girl was gorgeous. Yuuki knew that she wasn't exactly bad looking either, but that girl's beauty was literally off the charts. Her only redeeming factor was her intelligence, something that was shunned in Shido's Track team. Shido liked his 'henchmen' dumb, and the only way to survive Shido's torture was to blindly follow his words, almost like it was law.

But she saw her chance to get away from that life, a savior in the form of Bakyura, she wondered what she would do if not for him, would she still be with Shido's group, pretending to be something she wasn't? Or would she be dead, reincarnated as one of 'them'. The simple thought made her shiver, she looked up from the ground, what she saw almost gave her a heart attack.

The gates of the Takagi estate were open, and there was the school minibus standing next to the guardhouse. Shido stood outside the bus as his brainwashed followers exited the bus one by one. Yuuki didn't want to confront him, she took a step back and turned around, ready to make a dash for the main mansion. She had hardly taken a step back when she saw Tsunoda standing right behind her, Kawamoto under one arm, the other arm fondling Taniuchi's breasts. The sight made Yuuki shiver. Tsunoda made eye contact and all of a sudden, a maniacal grin formed on his ugly mug.

"Look what we have here, a DESERTER!" Taniuchi spoke; she was visibly enjoying Tsunoda's molestation. Yuuki could only imagine what Shido must have done to turn someone as nerdy as Taniuchi into such a slut. The girl could hardly speak to guys, let alone allow herself to be molested in public.

"You missed out on all the fun, Yuuki! All the guys want to bang you, and with only Taniuchi and me being females on the bus, we ARE rather shorthanded." Kawamoto spoke, a lustful expression on her face.

"We could probably take her now; show her the beauty of Shido sensei's new world." Tsunoda spoke, taking a menacing step towards Yuuki. Yuuki started backing away from the trio, she had hardly taken a few steps back when she hit someone. She turned around to face Miura. The shy, introverted Miura had a look of extreme lust on his face. Then it hit her.

_Shido is using sex to keep them under his spell!_

"Ever since the group parted, we've missed you girls. Why is it that that gun Otaku, mr. perfect, spikyboy and the transfer student got all the girls, I've always wanted to bury my thing into you and that hot nurse, now that I have you here, guess that leaves only the nurse." Tsunoda spoke as Miura grabbed Yuuki, flooring her. He then proceeded to rip off her shirt. She screamed and flailed in the hope of getting away, but Kawamoto and Taniuchi held her hands.

"It only hurts the first time, and then you'll love it." Taniuchi spoke, gagging Yuuki's mouth. Tsunoda took his position, opening his pants. Yuuki felt his hand probe her unmentionables, while Miura played with her boobs. She closed her eyes. She had imagined having sex with Bakyura. If anyone was to ever have her, if would have been him. Tears formed on the corners of her eyes as she began to cry for mercy. She defiantly kept her eyes closed. Waiting for the pain, waiting for the thrust. Tears seeping down the sides of her beautiful face.

The thrust never came.

The pressure around her shoulders, exerted by Miura, abated. She quickly shook off Kawamoto and Taniuchi, getting up quickly, he puched Taniuchi in the face, knocking her out cold and breaking her spectacles. She proceeded to follow up on Kawamoto, kneeing her in the stomach, forcing her to fall on her knees.

She looked around to locate Tsunoda. What she saw almost made her have a heart attack.

Bakyura stood in the middle of the courtyard, there was intense rage on his face. His right foot was planted on a badly injured Miura; Tsunoda was suspended in the air by his neck, firmly grasped in Bakyura's right hand. Bakyura had just drawn the blade on his right Arm, Yuuki's body reacted before she had time to think.

She quickly wrapped her arms around Bakyura, preventing him from killing Tsunoda. Bakyura's anger lessened somewhat as he looked down on her, His eyes demanding a reason as to why she had stopped him from killing Tsunoda.

Yuuki simply looked up at him with a pleading look. She had seen too much bloodshed in the last two days. She didn't want more people to die, no matter how wretched they were.

"Please, don't kill him."

Bakyura's anger vanished; instead, a concerned expression took its place. He threw Tsunoda off as one would throw away a schoolbag after getting back home, effortlessly. He grasped Yuuki's shoulders and stared straight into her eyes, hazel meeting green. Yuuki couldn't help but gasp. The sudden action caught her off guard.

"Are you alright?" Bakyura spoke, genuine concern in his voice. Yuuki nodded, not able to speak.

"Any injuries?" Bakyura asked. Yuuki gulped as she spoke.

"Nothing physical, mostly emotional."

Bakyura looked her over to confirm, that's when it hit him. She was shirtless. He quickly took off his trench coat and put it around her. She clasped its edged tightly. She started walking towards the estate, Bakyura walked beside her, but she noticed that he completely avoided eye contact. After a few seconds, she stopped walking. Bakyura looked at her, puzzled.

"What's troubling you?" Yuuki said, turning around to face Bakyura. Bakyura sighed.

"Can't hide anything from you, can i?"

"Nopes, you better spill."

Bakyura looked towards the gate, where the rest of the group was gathered, possibly around Shido. He let out yet another sigh, and then he spoke.

"Earlier, I promised myself that I would protect you, you left Shido's group on your own accord. You sided with me and you have been with me ever since. I can't believe I let someone like Tsunoda and his gang have their way with you. I simply cannot forgive myself for letting you down like that."

His expression was one of pain. Yuuki's expression mellowed as she looked at the humbled assassin in front of her. For the second time in the same day, her body acted before she could think, she kissed Bakyura, half hoping he would return the kiss, and in turn, her feelings for him.

To her surprise, he did.

They stayed like that for a minute, lost in each other's arms, yet that minute felt like an eternity. Yuuki wished it would never end.

They broke apart, and Yuuki started blushing. She quickly turned around and ran into the estate, running through some of the maintenance crew, causing a number of nosebleeds as she went. Bakyura simply stood there for a moment, trying to figure out what just happened. In the end, he just shrugged and moved towards where the rest of the group was standing.

Unknown to them, from a window on the upper floor, two pairs of eyes had seen everything. Rias and Takashi.

* * *

Takashi looked at Rias, he knew the look on the face of a person going through heartbreak. Hell, he knew it too well. Anyone who hung around Morita would recognize that look from a mile away. He knew how it felt; his mood was pretty much the same when Rei dumped him for Hisashi, a week of mental devastation. He'd be emotionally dead by now had he not met Saeko.

"So, which one of the girls is yours, bro?"

Takashi looked at Rias, she had pretty much masked her emotions and had a very believable fake smile on her face, Takashi had to give it to her, she was no amateur at putting up facades.

"I'm dating Saeko, the girl with the same hair-color as yours"

"Good choice, bro. Guess you just skipped that part in your account of events. Did you leave out other such details too?"

Takashi gulped; he had pretty much cut out everything about Rei and Hisashi. But then, did it really matter?

"No, not really."

"Lying won't get you far, Takashibwoyy." Rias spoke, her smile turning into a taunting grin, then went back to a neutral expression. She then looked up at Takashi and spoke.

"So, how does it feel being a leader?"

Takashi spoke his well-practiced answer. "We don't have a leader; we all help each other out and try our best to survive." His response made Rias giggle, confusing Takashi.

"Oh Takashi, it's pretty obvious that you're the one who calls the shots. Think about it yourself!"

Takashi started thinking about the roles everyone had. He could pretty much categorize them by RPG classes.

"Well, Hirano, Rei, Saeko and Hisashi are out main warriors, then there's Shizuka-sensei, our medic. Saya is our master tactician. Yuuki is somewhat of a wild card. She's the plot-incentive character. Then there's Alice. Well, she's just Alice. Then we have you now, the overpowered character that easily levels up…"

"And?"

"And then there's Bakyura. He's like the over-levelled character you get in your party. The one usually controlled by the PC, Yaknow, the one with those level 99 stats at level 40 or so."

Rias just nodded. "Now think, who's the one person everyone turns to for orders?"

Takashi was cornered.

"I guess it would probably be me." He had to admit that most of the group did exactly what he told them to. Be it rescuing Alice or deciding where to go next. He DID have the controller in his hands.

The controller that controlled the whole team.

All of a sudden, Takashi felt an immense weight drop down on his shoulders. He had responsibilities, responsibilities that he hadn't ever thought about. He gulped.

Rias burst out laughing.

"T-The expression on your face is PRICELESS! Jesus!" Rias spoke, laughing at the same time. Takashi sighed. Then something occurred to him. How did Rias know Bakyura? Shinra had told the entire group that Assassins operated alone. So why were two assassins friends?

"Hey, Rias, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead. Unless you want my bra size, that's a secret"

"Uggh, I can make out a D-cup when I see one. But that's beside the point. I meant to ask you, if assassins work alone, how do you know Bakyura?"

Rias looked at Takashi, a distant look on her face.

"It was back in Russia, I had a mission to help the north spetsnaz troops guard against the local Siberian militia. The fighting was heavy and they had assassins of their own. We were pinned down by the militia and no backup was coming. Then a radio transmission from the opponent's camp was intercepted by our technician. I believe the exact words of the guy on the radio were. 'He's a demon, save yourselves. send the assassin squad after him, and buy as much time as you can.'

Ten minutes after that, the militia's firing slowed down. Out brigade charged into the enemy outpost. We were met with next to no resistance. All we found were dead bodies. Assassins ranked much higher than me, dead in the snow. And in the middle of the enemy camp, we found the reason for the said massacre, a sixteen year old boy. He simply walked through my brigade, up to me. I still remember what he said. 'You are the only assassin among these imbeciles, I see. Good job holding out this long.' He then pat me on my back and left for the North Spetsnaz headquarters. Where, thanks to a blizzard, we were forced to stay inside for almost a month. So we became pretty close to each other during that time. I haven't met him ever since."

Takashi was trying to imagine Rias's life. At the age of sixteen, he was literally doing nothing. He WOULD study a bit on the days he could be bothered to study. But that was about it. Life was nothing except videogames and Rei. He hated that phase of his life, but comparing it to Rias's life, he gained some sort of comfort in the normality of his own.

"So, why are you in Japan anyways?"

"Why, don't you like me being here? That's rude, Takashi, Saeko might leave you if you keep being that rude."

"Hey! Calm down! I was just asking. Should we be wary of you? Do you plan to kill someone among us, or someone we know?"

"Hell no, Takashi, I was supposed to get a task from someone in Tokunosu, but before I could get to it. Everything went to shit around here." Rias again got that faraway look, Takashi could only wonder what it was that got he so occupied.

* * *

**Three weeks ago**

**''You never take a break, do you?'' Rias spoke, irritation in her voice. Her fater, her only family, was too busy to so much as meet her once a month. She had no idea why her father didn't marry again, He was in his late thirties, but working as an assassin did wonders to one's body. As he said himself, he felt like an old man stuck in a youth's body.**

**''I am sorry, Rias, for spending so little time with you. but I have been very busy in this period. Many things were on my back lately, and to make things worse, I'm in command of an important mission in Costa Rica this week. Hell, I wish I COULD take a break, sit on the beach and have a few martinis''**

**Rias sighed, Her father noticed the fact that she looked down lately. He noticed her random spurts of loneliness ever since she came back from the mission in Siberia. Recently, the frequency of said spurts had grown.**

**''Why are you,so sad? Don't tell me you miss that Bakyura guy?''**

**Rias blushed, her father had struck gold. But she'd be damned if she was to admit it to her father. She'd never hear the end of it, and her father's lame jokes were already rotting parts of her brain to various degrees. In the given circumstances, she said what any self-respecting girl would say.**

**''Don't say stupid things, Dad!"**

**Rias's dad looked like he was deep in thought. He completely supported his daughter and had no problems with her liking him. He didn't need to fear for her security. She was in the top hundred assassins of the world. One doesn't get that high up without exceptional skill.**

**''Anyways, I would like you to go to Japan this week. We have an assignment call up there. They requested a teenage assassin. You'll have to go because Bakyura's already on an assignment."**

**Rias's eyes widened. "Bakyura accepted a mission? Why would he do that? I thought he swore off killing for money! Don't tell me someone hired the world's number one Assassin for guard duty!"**

**Her father smirked. "Well, I don't know jack shit about his mission, but hey, I have his address. Want it?"**

**It hit Rias like a freight train from hell.**

"**H-He's in Japan?"**

**Her father nodded as he handed her an envelope. "What's more, he's in Tokunosu city. So, you wanna take up this mission?"**

**Rias literally snatched the letter out of his hands. She turned on her heel and ran into her room to start packing. "Thanks dad! Love you loads!" came her shout from her room. Her father just smiled.**

"**Aah, kids sure do grow up fast these days."**

Rias was brought back to reality by a light in the sky. She looked up in horror; she knew exactly what this was. She looked around as the lights all around the Takagi estate went out.

"W-What was that?" Takashi shouted, visibly panicking.

"Putting it simply, there won't be any lights now, nowhere. The darkness is beginning. We must leave the Takagi estate!"

* * *

**Tokunosu City, outskirts, Apache helicopter **

"This is as far as we can go! We can't risk getting into the neuclear bomb's EMP range!" The pilot shouted at the guy in the back, who was wearing something like a wingsuit.

"Thank you, Captain. This will be far enough." The masked figure spoke.

"You'll fall into the ocean, even with that wingsuit!"

"No I won't. Wait and see."

Without as much as a word, the masked figure jumped out of the Apache, opening his wingsuit halfway down. All of a sudden, he accelerated, shooting towards the city at breakneck speed.

"Did he just ride the reverse shockwave into town?" The captain spoke, flabbergasted.

The figure dodged the skyscrapers at the edge of the town; he was descending as he was slowing down. Finally, he landed in a back alley, rolling once to cut any residual momentum. The figure took off its wingsuit, long black hair falling down to his shoulders. The masked person looked at the blast in the sky, then in the general direction of his target. 2-choome hill, Tokunosu city.

"I'll get you, Subject 512 - Bakyura. After all, you are still inferior to me, nothing but a failed experiment. Prepare to feel true pain. Prepare to learn the full capabilities of a genetically enhanced human. Be prepared. I'm coming."

* * *

**And that's that! Now you know the drill, start typing that review.**


	13. Chapter 13: Loss of the DEAD

**Life Among The Dead – Chapter 13 – Loss of The DEAD**

**Sorry for being off for so long, I kinda injured my hand. Anyways, it gave me quite a bit of time to think over this combat-incentive chapter. So enjoy. :D**

**Read and review, fellas.**

"Run to the gates! Bar them shut! Don't let 'them' cross into the estate!"

Bakyura scrambled into the estate's courtyard, where the rest of the group was waiting. Rias and Takashi appeared from the estate's main door in front of him. It had hardly been a minute since the makeshift EMP denotation caused by the nuclear blast over Tokonosu city took out the city's power. Bakyura was thinking up battle strategies that would allow the Takagi militia to defend the estate. As of now, he was drawing a blank. The only way to survive was to run, run from 'them'.

"Kirito! Exit through east and make for the Tokonosu airstrip. Rika's protecting a number of survivors, their safety comes foremost!" Shinra shouted. Ever since Bakyura started taking missions, he relied on Shinra's tactical support. Shinra's mind was second to none. He had executed missions that others deemed impossible without so much as breaking a sweat, which was why he was renowned as the 'master tactician' among mercenary circles.

Kirito nodded and set off for the far side of the estate, jumping over the wall and crossing over to the other side. Shinra saw him go and then turned to the rest of the group. Don Takagi was rallying his militia, who were shooting at the undead that were accumulating around the gate. Almost as if on cue, Kohta shot one of 'them' straight in the head. Giving his position and the high recoil of his rifle, it was quite a feat.

"Bakyura, Rias, what do you make of this situation?" Shinra spoke, donning his serious face. One could comment on the speed at which Shinra's personality changed. Goofy one minute, super-serious killjoy the next.

"One sided attack, considering the number of unarmed personnel and civvies in the area, we are heavily outnumbered. We cannot survive such an attack. We must run," Rias spoke, typical assassin observation. But she missed one critical detail.

"'They' have blocked our only route of exit, we could exit by breaking down a wall, but the resulting noise would alert even more of 'them'. Our only hope is to escape in small numbers and vehicles." Bakyura spoke.

"All vehicles on the premises are unusable, save one. And it can only seat four individuals at max. It is also open-top, so driving through 'them' would be suicide," Shinra commented. Pointing towards the garage, where an oddly shaped ATV was being pulled out by a few of the workers.

"So, we'll have to thin down their numbers, then provide a distraction and escape, but with all the survivors around the estate. That wouldn't be possible," Shinra continued.

"Lady Takagi, I have some weapons for you."

Bakyura turned around, and instantly regretted it. Right behind him, Lady Takagi tore open the side of her dress to make an opening for her thigh-holsters. Bakyura had to turn to hide his blush. He felt dirty, but at least he wasn't publically showing it like Kohta.

"I'm all ready, what about you, Souchiro-San?" Lady Takagi asked, offering him a gun.

"So am I, but I do not need a gun," Don Takagi spoke, gripping the hilt of his sword. Bakyura had to admit, he cut a striking figure.

"In that case," Lady Takagi turned around, "I would like you to have this gun, Saya," Bakyura looked at the gun, one of the old Luger models. It even had a drum magazine, which looked full considering the effort it took lady Takagi to hold it. But could Saya shoot? Needless to say, Kohta was ogling the gun.

"I don't know how to use this," Saya spoke, taking the gun in her hands, "But more importantly, why do you have a gun?"

Lady Takagi let out a light giggle, "Back when I was working on Wall Street, I took a self defense course for executives. I might even be a better shot than your dad," she spoke. "Kohta-Kun, could you teach her how to use this?"

"YES MAMA!"

Bakyura slapped his face

"uhhh. I meant, yes, yes!"

"Better" Bakyura spoke.

"Moving on, Thanks to the high altitude nuclear explosion, we are completely cut off. No cars will work, unless you stumble across a classic or an old American muscle car. Phones are useless. Your transmitters are copper plated, so they'll still work, that's the gist of it," Shinra spoke, Bakyura raised his hand "Yes Bakyura?"

"Does this thing play music?"

Shinra slapped his face.

"Can someone please explain to me what just happened?"

Bakyura looked towards his right. He almost choked on his breath, In front of him stood Yuuki. She had changed her torn clothes with one of Saya's outfits, a small shirt and a miniskirt. Her Ruger was strapped to her thigh. Simply put, she looked sexy, dead sexy.

"EMP blast, no electricity, hundreds of 'them' around us, bitchy people on the premises, no means of transport. Simply put, we're fucked, right in the down under," Shinra spoke. Bakyura simply took out his carton of cigarettes and lit one, inhaling the smoke and slowly letting it out.

"It's gonna be a tough fight," He spoke, "Certainty of death, small chance of success, what are we waiting for?"

As if on cue, the undead broke through the Gate of the estate. Bakyura leapt off the top of the staircase at the entrance, closely followed by Saeko, Takashi, Rei and Hisashi. Right behind them, two shots rang out and a flurry of throwing knives flew over them. Bakyura ran ahead of the group, leaving them in the dust.

"Wait!"

Everyone except stopped. Takashi and Hisashi turned around. Don Takagi stood behind them.

"You have your filial piety; do you not, Takashi-Kun? Then go. Leave these vermin to us. As for you, Kohta Hirano, I leave the safety of my daughter in your hands. Do not let me down."

"PAPA! What the hell do you mean by that?" Saya shouted from her position behind her mother, Lady Takagi turned around to face her, and then, all of a sudden, she slapped Saya.

"Your father and I have a role to play, having you escape from here is our top priority," She spoke "Don't think that this doesn't kill us inside, but it is for the best, for your safety. JUST GO!"

Saya took a step back, holding back her tears. She turned and ran, followed by everyone except Bakyura and Shinra. Don Takagi looked at Bakyura, sadness on his face. For once, he looked every one of his forty-two years.

"I see you have no plans of leaving, do you?" Lady Takagi spoke

"Nu-uh," Bakyura shook his head, "Someone has to clear an exit, and it would be disgraceful if we let our loving foster parents do all the work."

"More so, Saya would be sad if you two got injured, or god forbid, die. We can't simply let out lovely sister be sad, now can we?" Shinra added.

"You two should get back, we won't hold back, and we won't want you to get hurt in the crossfire," Bakyura added, unsheathing his blades. Shinra took a low stance and pulled out his Barrett.

"No can do, kids. This is my home; I will fight to protect it. And you two know full well that we are capable of protecting ourselves. You wouldn't expect anything less from ex-mercenaries, now would you?" Don Takagi spoke with a smile. Saya had bought the bait, but Bakyura knew why Lady Takagi was familiar with guns. After all, who could forget her old title of 'crimson reaper', the one who taught Shinra how to wield guns?

"Sure, just don't drag us down," Bakyura spoke, grinning from ear to ear.

"Today, we fight as family, even though the same blood doesn't run through our veins, you two are as much my children as Saya and Kirito." Don Takagi spoke, embracing Shinra and Bakyura. Bakyura silently shed a tear, as he knew that he would have to leave them behind in the end.

"Yes, father, let's fight."

_I won't let them die._

* * *

"The cables are isolated; this beauty is ready to go!"

"And what about that one?"

"Nah, it's fried, even though it's a Humvee, the anti-EMP measures are missing"

The mechanic of the Takagi estate, Matsuda, and Takashi were looking at the only working vehicle in the Takagi garage. It was a sort of ATV, but it was built for army use. As per the manual, it was an amphibious vehicle. But the main problem was, it won't seat everyone. At the very most, it could seat seven, counting Bakyura, the group had ten members.

"Don't you have something else? This won't seat us all!" Shizuka shouted.

"Well… there's one more vehicle that has a functional engine, but it's a bike, and it's a prototype." Matsuda replied, ruffling his hair.

"Don't care, just give it to us." Shizuka shouted.

"Come with me, then."

Shizuka looked back at the others, the ATV was full, Rias and Saeko were hanging off either side while Kohta was sitting in the middle, gun pointed out. HIzashi was revving the engine. Takashi looked back at Shizuka, his eyes silently asking questions.

"I'll follow on a bike, you peeps better get moving!" Shizuka yelled as she ran off after Matsuda. As if on cue, Hisashi gunned the engine of the ATV, driving it out of the garage and towards the main gate. Shizuka caught up with Matsuda, who had opened a separate portion of the garage. In the middle of the small room stood what was probably the most heavy-duty bike Shizuka had ever seen in her life.

"Say hello to the HDT M1030-M2 670cc JP8, The latest military grade motorbike out there! Boasting a 'heavy fuel' engine capable of running on Diesel, Biofuel, Aviation fuel and four other military grades of petroleum, it can traverse water 2ft deep and has a tank range of over 300 miles. Its single, four-stroke cylinder will reach 95mph in the heat of combat!" Matsuda spoke, fangasming over the bike. Shizuka had to agree, it was a beauty.

"Okay, now, keys please."

* * *

Bakyura was moving with the rhythm of a dancer, decapitating multiple undead with each slash. Behind him, Shinra was alternating between long range and short range, shooting 'them' near and far, sometimes even getting up to three with the same bullet. Behind them, The Takagis fought back to back, taking on a smaller group of 'them'.

At that moment, a signal flare went up across the lane; Bakyura pinpointed its location to a small park about a mile away from the Takagi estate. He looked at Shinra, who gave him a nod. As if on cue, the ATV carrying the group exited the compound. That was his cue. He ran out through the clearing in the gate, killing a few of them as he went, running faster than humanly possible. He took the road leading towards the park. He pirouetted over a car, slicing down on both sides as he landed, gaining two kills. He sped up again. He'd be at the park in minutes. He just hoped that the survivors could hold out till then.

Shinra shot the last of 'Them' in the head. He then stepped back and wiped the sweat off his brow. He heard a bike's engine behind him and turned to see someone riding a bike through the wreckage of the estate. The bike stopped next to Shinra. The rider took of her helmet. Shinra's heart skipped a beat.

Shizuka got off the bike, she was wearing a black ridersuit and it did wonders to her curves. Hell, he wondered where they even found one that fit her. He shook his head and looked back up. That's when he realized something. In his reports, it was clearly stated that every living person in the vicinity of 2-choome had been taken into protection by the Takagis, the area around the hill was closed with razor wire. So who could have used the flare?

It hit him like a freight train.

"Shizuka, I need you to drive me to a certain place. Bakyura's heading into a trap!"

"You can ride, I'll sit behind you."

"Actually, I can't ride a bike."

"Why"

"They scare the crap outta me."

Shizuka slapped her face.

* * *

Bakyura reached the park to find no one there. Yes, no one. Not even a single one of 'them'. He walked into the park, looking around, armblades drawn.

*clap clap clap*

Bakyura jumped around, attacking the source of the sound. His blade was blocked by a sword. He saw the person in front of him. He quickly jumped back, unable to believe his eyes.

In front of him stood a tall, dark haired boy who was so pale that he looked like a walking corpse. His long hair fell past his shoulders and a headband covered his forehead. He held two swords and wore the bulletproof assassin trench coat. On his collar was the number '2'. Though the weird thing was, his eyes were vacant. As if he was being controlled.

The worst thing was, the person in question was his best friend. Cassano Benassimo, Ranked second.

"What have you done to him?" Bakyura shouted.

"Oh, perceptive, are we? We are simply ensuring that none of you 'failed experiments' can ever reach us." Cassano spoke, though his voice was distorted and his lips slurred over the words, as if the mind control was akin to some buggy software. Bakyura could make out that Cassano's Headband, which kinda looked like Sol Badguy's from guilty gear, was where the software was housed.

"Would you hurt your best friend, Bakyura Lavosier?" Cassano spoke as he lunged, Bakyura sidestepped his attack and tried to attack his headband, but his hand was batted away by Cassano, who doubled over, sword aimed at Bakyura.

Bakyura jumped back. Whoever was controlling Cassano was using his genetically-modified abilities to the maximum. Bakyura would be hard-pressed to survive, leave alone getting the headset off Cassano. Then, a plan formed in his mind, something reckless, yet the only attack of his that Cassano didn't know.

"There's no use fighting, Bakyura. He knows all of your moves. Hell, he could end you with ease," The controller spoke

"We'll see about that," Bakyura spoke, taking his stance. He ran three steps, and then jumped, turning his body twice midair. Cassano crossed his swords in an attempt to block. Bakyura smirked. He brought his hand down with his shift in gravity, triggering a sonicboom.

The result was devastating, Cassano was blown away. But Bakyura had messed up his timing. The sonicboom backfired; Bakyura yelled out in pain, his right forearm was completely crushed. He fell to his knees. The swishing sound of a sword broke him out of his reverie. He saw Cassano in front of him, his headband had miraculously survived. His right sword was pointed at Bakyura while the left was pointed at his own throat.

"Two birds with one arrow. Fitting, isn't it?" Cassano spoke. His hand trembled as he struggled against the mind control. Bakyura closed his eyes, thinking of his group, of Yuuki. Deep inside, he knew that he really liked her. This wasn't how he imagined his death. He was losing consciousness due to the pain in his arm. He took little comfort in the thought that his death would be painless.

A bullet shot rang out, Bakyura fell on his face. Another body fell on top of him. He passed out

* * *

Shinra's bullet had found its mark. The shockwave from Cassano's headset's explosion had knocked Cassano out cold. Both he and Bakyura were heavily injured. Shizuka ran in and held Bakyura's arm. She almost puked at the sight of the mangled arm. It was pretty clear that he wasn't going to be able to use it again.

"He'll live, but he'll lose his arm. You'll have to get him to a hospital as fast as possible." Shizuka said.

Shinra pressed a few buttons on his personal transmitter, sending out an SOS signal. The helicopter would be there in a few minutes. He just hopes that Bakyura would last that long.

"Shizuka, I'll be gone for a while. Take care of the group. Bakyura would be saddened if something happened to them. Tell Rias I've taken him to headquarters. Tell the others that we stayed at the Takagi estate." Shinra spoke.

"I'm coming with you! I-I can tend to them tell they reach a hospital!" Shizuka spoke, desperately trying to find reasons to keep Shinra from going.

"No, the kids need you. And you need them."

"NO! I WON'T GO! I FINALLY FOUND YOU AGAIN AND I AM NOT LETTING GO!" Shizuka shouted, wrapping herself around Shinra, her eyes tearing up. Shinra's expression mellowed.

"I'll be back soon, Shizu," Shinra spoke as he wiped her tears, "Just stay safe, I won't be able to live with myself if something happened to you. Okay?"

Shizuka looked up at him, moving away. She took a few steps back, then quickly walked up to Shinra, kissed him on the cheek, and then ran away towards the bike. Leaving Shinra dazed. He stayed that way till he heard the chopper approaching from behind.

He looked at the chopper. Medics quickly exited the choppers and hooked up the two young assassins to life support. Bakyura sat in the chopper and it lifted off. He took Bakyura's pack of cigarettes, lighting one as the helicopter climbed higher.

* * *

Far away, near the highway. Yuuki saw an unmarked chopper lift up from 2-choome. For some reason, it made her feel uneasy. She shook her head, shrugging off the feeling. There was a highway full of 'Them' in front of her. She had no time to think.

Only time to shoot.

**Okay! Chapter done! Read and review!**


	14. Chapter 14: Trauma of the DEAD

**Life Among The Dead – Chapter 14 – Trauma of the DEAD**

**Okay, more reviews plz**

* * *

"Ugghh,"

Bakyura shook his head as he got up; the last thing he remembered was fighting the brainwashed Cassano, and losing miserably. His whole body felt numb. He looked around; he was in a small, dingy room. He couldn't see too well as his sight was hazy, he felt his room shake in a wave-like rhythm. A ship, he was on a ship.

"You're awake, I see."

Bakyura turned his gaze towards the source of the sound, his eyes slowly regaining focus. He saw the hazy figure in front of his eyes come into focus, and he put on a smile.

"Hello, mother."

Bakyura's mother bent down next to him and ruffled his hair. Her lapel pin read 'Head of Dept. Genetics – Leia Lavosier' Bakyura smirked. "Got another promotion, I see," He spoke. Leia chuckled, "And I see you have managed to lose an arm. I guess we gain some and we lose some in life," she spoke, her British accent sounding very out-of-place to Bakyura after having spent so much time in Japan. Not to say he didn't like it.

Bakyura tried moving his right arm, as expected, it didn't budge. Hell, he couldn't even feel his arm. He looked at his mother; she was trying her best to hide her concern. An assassin's mother couldn't be soft on her child, but she was a mother first, and an assassin second, and a scientist third, so to speak.

"Don't even try, Bakyura. We will be removing your arm till your elbow. You'll get a prosthetic. Then you'll have to learn to live with it, rehabilitation will take about a month at the very least," Leia spoke.

"A prosthetic, will a normal prosthetic be able to bear the stress of my combat style? You do know that I don't plan to leave my mission unaccomplished, right?" Bakyura spoke, looking at the window in the dark room, "Also, I have some people who'll be waiting for me, and so a month of recovery is out of question."

" You are just like your father, headstrong and brash. No wonder I fell for him. And Shinra has told me all about your mission. He also told me about this certain 'Yuuki Miku' of yours. Now, any girl that my children date will HAVE to be introduced to me before you can…consummate your relationsh-," Bakyura lifted his hand, cutting Leia off.

"Mom, one, there's nothing between me and Yuuki, I like her, maybe, but I don't know if she reciprocates my feelings. Other than that, where is dad and when do I get the prosthetic? And will the prosthetic survive?" He spoke, a serious expression on his face. Leia sighed.

"You'll get a special type of prosthetic. It's something the UAC scientists have been working on for years. It hasn't been normalized for a human yet. But thanks to your physical enhancement, you'll probably be able to use it. As for your other question, we'll begin in an hour. Till then, Shinra and Cassano want to meet you. I'll take my leave."

Bakyura smiled as his mother walked away. What he didn't notice was the pained expression on his mother's face as she turned into the hallway outside Bakyura's room. What she was doing would cause Bakyura a lot of pain, but it was the only way his hand would ever be mobile enough to keep up with the rest of his body.

_Bakyura, I just hope this mission of yours is really worth it._

* * *

Bakyura was staring out of his window. The painkillers in his body weren't allowing him to get up. Hell, he felt sluggish as fuck. He was just wondering how long he had been out when the door to his room opened again and Cassano walked in. The headband was gone. Bakyura looked at him. Cassano sure had grown in the last two years. He had surpassed Bakyura's height, approximately 6'5 or 6'6. He had long black hair that fell to his hip, a few locks stayed in the front, moving into his eyes as he moved his head. His handsome face was contorted in a wide grin. His lithe yet muscular body mirrored Bakyura's own. Bakyura stared at the only other genetic human he knew, his best friend.

"So, how ya feeling? Ya brit bastard!" Cassano yelled, startling Bakyura.

"Considering the fact that I'm drugged, injured and crippled, I'm just dandy," Bakyura replied, sarcasm lining his tone. Cassano grimaced.

"Hey, I'm sorry for what it's worth, so I spoke with Shinra. I'll be covering for you on your mission. You can't get up for a month-"

"A week, I won't take a single day more," Bakyura spoke, cutting off Cassano, a look of determination on his face. Cassano looked at him, and then continued.

"A week, then," Cassano spoke, "I'll take full responsibility of the group you have been travelling with. Is that alright?" Cassano ended with a merchant's smile. Bakyura wondered why Cassano was trying to be so sweet. Then it hit him. An evil smirk fomed on his face, Cassano saw this and sweat-dropped.

"You just wanna be near Rias, don't you?" Bakyura spoke, trying to abstain from laughing. Cassano's expression was one of a prize cow's. Bakyura was finding his abstinence of laughter hard to maintain.

"Y-yes," Cassano spoke, trying to find words to get him out of this mess, "You know what I feel for her and I damn well know what she feels for you-,"

"We're just good friends, chill. I like someone else."

"I bet you two ha- WHAT?" Cassano spoke; his jaw looked like it would hit the ground, "Someone else? You mean YOU fell for someone? Impossible! The very foundation of this world is crumbling it seems! Who is this sorceress who managed to thaw your heart of ice?"

"Her name is Yuuki Miku, if you really need to know. And keep your hands off her. Trust me, I'll kill you if you don't," Bakyura spoke, an evil grin on his face. Cassano gulped.

"Sure thing, boss, you know my heart only beats for Rias."

"And a hundred other girls that change with the season."

"But Rias remains first and foremost!"

"And she's grateful for that, not."

"Damn you, Bakyura!"

"Love you too, Cassano."

"I'm outta here."

"And I was wondering when you'd run off."

"Fuck you too."

"But hey, take care of them for me."

"Wilco, bro."

Bakyura looked at his transmitter on his other hand. He noticed that his rank was still first. The servers indicated his last battle as a draw. He also found out how hard it was to operate the transmitter with one hand. He took the pills on his bedside table and felt waves of sleep wash over him. Before he knew it, he was asleep.

* * *

Shinra stood on the deck of the UAC ship that they had been evacuated to. Kirito had just messaged him saying that he had safely held off the undead at the airport, saving Rika and the civilians in the airport. They were now waiting for extraction. He heard footsteps behind him. He turned around to see his mother standing behind him, a worried expression on her face.

"Mom, were you able to trace down the ones who controlled Cassano?"

Leia shook her head. "The headband transmitter was too damaged for me to draw any information from it. All we know is that the perpetrator has links in the UAC. The person knew about Cassano and Bakyura's genetic modifications."

Shinra nodded. "The way Cassano fought Bakyura back in Tokonosu was different from his actual fighting style. Simply put, it was a style made on the spot to perfectly counted Bakyura. I'd be damned if I said Cassano didn't have the upper hand. What worries me more, though, is the fact that our enemies have the technology and the information to make such a deadly weapon."

Leia looked out towards the ocean; one could barely make out the island of Tokonosu in the distance. She sighed, "We don't have a single lead here, Cassano's memories were tampered with, and you didn't see the perpetrator. We're on a nonexistent trail here."

Shinra looked at her, she was scared, scared that she would lose her sons just because one of them wanted to find the truth behind some crappy modifications done to his body.

"Why does Bakyura have to put himself in danger? He knows we love him as he is. Even if he is genetically modified, he's still my son!" Leia spoke in exasperation, banging her fist into the railing on the deck, causing a small dent in the metal. Shinra placed his hand on her shoulder.

"He's doing this for personal peace. He thinks the only way to live a normal life is to know more about him. Dad would support him, if he were here," Shinra spoke, "And, about dad, where is he?"

Leia puffed her cheeks in irritation, "He's off to Costa Rica with Emmanuel, yaknow, that Rias girl's father. Apparently, there is a leader's convention going on there, as it is one of the 'low infection' areas. He's busy playing diplomat," She spoke, irritation lining her face, "Can't he come back? He's left his wife and children all alone just so that he can be with his 'best friend'!"

Shinra stepped back from the balcony, lighting a cigarette as he turned. "You can't blame him; he knows we three are as safe as can be. Bakyura is a higher ranker than he is, I'm an ace survivalist and you, well, the 'crazy doctor' Leia Lavosier, ranked fourth in the UAC, are more than capable of depending yourself." He spoke, inhaling the smoke from his cigarette, "What worries me is that Emmanuel is stuck there, his daughter isn't exactly weak, but against a large horde of 'them', she simply can't survive alone."

"Rias is a good girl, I'm sure her father trusts in her ability to survive."

Leia and Shinra turned around to see Cassano standing behind them, he was garbed in his UAC uniform, the rank two trench coat was black with gold edges, this coat was what got Cassano his title 'The black slicer', Looking at him, Shinra knew that Cassano was not one to be messed with.

"Ready to go, are we?" Shinra spoke, looking at Cassano. Cassano simply nodded, "You coming too?" he inquired. Shinra simply nodded in reply and started walking towards the helipad. Leia watched her son disappear into the helicopter. Half of her wanted to go with her son, but her other half knew that she had to stay, stay for her son, who would soon become a prototype weapon's test subject. It was the only way to give him a new arm. And as much as she wanted to not do it, Bakyura's determined gaze had swayed her. She sighed as she walked into Bakyura's room.

_Forgive me, Bakyura. Living a normal life will be next to impossible for you after this is over._

* * *

"There are too many of them…"

Takashi and co. were on the highway, in front of them was a mile-long bridge, what's worse; the whole bridge was chock-a-block with 'them'.

"That's because we have the only running engine on the whole highway, we're a target for 'them'," Saya spoke. Kohta looked at her, figures she was the only one to realize that they were a beacon for the undead. The only source of sound on the whole bridge. Hisashi gulped.

"That might be right, but currently, our main problem is how to get past this horde," Saeko spoke. Takashi thought about their options of escape. That's when they heard another engine approaching them. The group turned around to see Shizuka riding up to them on a bike. She stopped beside them.

"I see we have a situation here, do we not?" Rias spoke from the back of the buggy. "I have an idea, but I'll need someone with a pistol to go with me. But first, where is Bakyura?"

"Bakyura and Shinra had to take an injured Assassin out of the main city. They will regroup with us soon. I have Shinra's tracker with me here, so they'll know where to find us," Shizuka spoke. As to why they didn't extract us, Bakyura says he will send a chopper to the Takagi estate as soon as they have one available."

"S-So, they'll save my parents?" Saya spoke, hope in her voice. Shizuka smiled, "Of course, but you have saved them already, most of the undead are now following us instead."

Takashi's expression turned from a hopeful one to a horrified one "So that means…"

…we are sandwiched between two hordes of them!" Rei finished for Takashi, earning herself a glare from Saeko. Rias looked at Shizuka's bike; a satisfied smirk appeared on her face.

"I hope you people are ready for some rough ridin', its gonna be a bumpy ride!"

* * *

The silence of the highway was broken by the overrevving of two engines, the undead all turned around to face the origin of the sound. Suddenly, the undead closest to the origin fell down, soon followed by his head, which had leapt high into the sky on impact with a sword wielded by none other than Saeko Busujima.

Two Vehicles tore down the road towards the bridge, one bike and one buggy, Takashi drove the buggy while Saeko and Rias provided cover, on the side, a bike on which sat Shizuka, all garbed in riding leathers, while Yuuki sat behind her, revolver in hand.

"I can't believe they are acting as bait at such a time," Rei commented, a mixture of annoyance and concern lined her face. Hisashi sighed; he took aim with his crossbow. A small explosion should keep the undead off their backs.

"What are you doing?" Rei asked Hisashi in a puzzled tone. Hisashi looked at her with a nervous smile.

"Just trust me on this, okay?"

With that, Hisashi let the bolt fly, he looked at it as it sailed past its intended target and impacted with a barrel under the building.

Apparently, the Barrels under the building were filled with petroleum.

A huge explosion caused the building to topple, falling over the horde of undead following the group of survivors, the undead that were still walking now moved towards the center of the explosion, catching fire as they stepped on the petrol-fed flames lining the wreckage of the building.

The group looked at the explosion in awe, and they at Hisashi, who turned around to face the group.

"I think we should run now, while they are distracted."

"There's no way that was your plan."

"Nope, it wasn't. NOW RUN!"

* * *

"I think we attracted too many of them."

"It was all or nothing from the very beginning."

Takashi, Saeko, Rias, Shizuka and Yuuki sat in the buggy; they ditched the bike, much to Shizuka's grief. They were standing under the bridge. The success of their plan depended on whether their buggy was actually as amphibious as it claimed to be. The undead behind them were tumbling over the embankment, apparently, they couldn't use inclines.

"HERE WE GO!" Takashi shouted as he drove into the river, the Buggy dipped into the water, splashing everyone, then straightened up, floating on the water.

"Is everyone alr-," Takashi spoke, looking behind; he abruptly shut up when he saw that the water had made the girls clothes almost see-through. He gulped and looked ahead, concentrating instead on driving towards the small sandbar in the middle of the river.

Takashi smiled to himself, Rias and Saeko's plan was a success. He just hoped that the others had made it out safely too. He didn't worry much, though. With Rei, Kohta and Hisashi there, they would most likely make it though unharmed. But one could never be too careful.

_Be safe, all of you._

* * *

"Rias, I need to speak to you about something."

Rias turned around to face Shizuka, She was standing on the other corner of the sandbar, Yuuki, Saeko and Takashi were talking to each other around buggy. Rias moved off and joined Shizuka. She was the last one to see Bakyura and Shinra, and Rias knew well enough that Bakyura never left an assignment half-accomplished. Something was fishy, and she was gonna get to the bottom of it.

"Look at those three, chatting around with such happiness, as if the threat the undead represent is nothing worth worrying about. Being an elder, I feel alienated. You must feel so too, being an outsider, right Rias?" Shizuka spoke. Rias sighed.

"Cut the crap, boobie lady. Where IS Bakyura?" Rias spoke; she had no time for Shizuka's mindless ramblings. Shizuka looked at Rias with a hurt expression.

"B-but I don't know how to say it… I'm horrible at giving bad news, that's why I'm always cheerful. But it seems you really want to know. Okay, I'll tell you'" Shizuka spoke with a ditzy smile, "Bakyura fought another assassin, he lost an arm in the battle and was severely wounded. The other assassin was under someone else's mind control. They were taken to a ship outside the city for medical attention. Does that answer your questions?"

Rias was shocked. She knew that she couldn't tell anyone this, but her heart sank. Anxiety and fear took root in her mind. She started trembling with fear. What was happening? How could Bakyura get injured so badly? Her eyes moistened. Then she heard the sound of a dry branch cracking behind her.

In a flurry of movement, Rias's blade was at the neck of the person who was eavesdropping on them. She looked at the culprit to find Yuuki. Yuuki was crying, her face was lined with concern. Suddenly, memories of Yuuki kissing Bakyura flashed through Rias's mind. She withdrew her blade, sheathing it,"No one else gets to know," She spoke.

Yuuki simply nodded, then slumped down where she stood. Rias looked at her, how could Bakyura like such a frail, stupid girl? What did she have that Rias didn't? Rias shook her head and walked off towards the buggy, badly irritated.

_Why do you like her and not me, Bakyura Lavosier?_

* * *

Takashi and Saeko sat at the other edge of the sandbar. They had been finalizing the escape plan for the other side of the river with Yuuki till a few minutes ago; now, they were just waiting for Saeko's clothes to dry. Saeko huddled with Takashi, wearing his jacket to cover her naked body.

"Say, Saeko. Have you ever dated someone before me?"

Saeko looked up at Takashi, His inquisitive gaze added force to his question. Saeko nuzzled closer to him, giggling. "No, you're my first boyfriend. But I did have a crush on someone once; someone who came to my father's dojo a few years after Bakyura left Japan. He never had an interest in me; all he wanted was to become 'the best swordsman'. He beat my father after a year's worth of training. I've never seen him since."

Takashi looked at the river in front of him. He was nothing but a simple high-school delinquent. How did he end up with someone as beautiful as Saeko? He let out a small chuckle.

"What's so funny?" Saeko inquired, a bemused half-smile on her face.

"Nothing, just wondering how I got such amazing luck"

"Huh?"

"You won't get it."

"Treat me like a dumbo with a sword and you'll regret it."

"Ahahahaha..ha..ha…..ha…You aren't serious, right?"

"That, my love, depends on you."

Takashi gulped. This was gonna be a long day.

* * *

**Another chapter bites the dust**

**uh hun.**

**Reviews, please.**

**-CruelRuin**


	15. Notice

Hey there, people.

About both my stories, i'm putting them on temporary Hiatus. I met with quite an unfortunate accident last month, and am still recovering.

The last month has given me time to expand my stories, build new concepts, develop better 'awe' moments and add humor.

I'll begin writing again AS soon as possible. It might be two weeks, or it might be a month. No promises made except for the promise of restarting as soon as i can.

This Promise stands for all three of my stories. Yes, i'm also going to restart writing Golden sun - Revival from scratch.

And also. i'm starting a persona fanfic when i get back. I'm pretty much putting the Demi fiend in the persona world. I don't know whether i should call this fic a crossover or a regular fic, but i promise that this fic will be my best fic by far, simply because i have the MOST ideas for this one. And trust me, they are good.

Signing out, for now.

CrueRuin


	16. Chapter 15: Shadow of the DEAD

**Life Among The Dead 15 – Shadow of the DEAD**

**HEY THERE, FELLAS! Been quite a while huh?**

**I'm just gonna go ahead with the chapter; let us hope I still haven't lost my touch.**

* * *

'Why are you heading to Tokonosu, sir?'

Cassano turned his head towards the guy piloting the helicopter. He had been staring at the horizon for the last ten minutes. He looked out of the helicopter's front windshield; the helicopter was almost at Tokonosu. Funny thing is, he couldn't remember how he got into Tokonosu the last time. He sighed.

'I'm on a personal mission. My ranking in the UAC does give me the power to hitch a ride into town, doesn't it?'

The pilot chuckled over the intercom, 'Quite a ride sir, and a combat helicopter serving as a taxi. I wish we could do more for our country. But all we seem to do is ferry people around while civilians keep dying in the streets of our hometowns.'

Cassano smirked, 'Well then, let's just hope you get to see some action soon, anyways. My stop is here. I'd give you a tip but I don't think money is worth anything now, is it?'

The pilot turned his head around and looked Cassano in the eye. He was a young man, barely twenty by the looks of it. His face had a serious expression on it. It made Cassano flinch.

'Godspeed to you, sir.'

Cassano nodded as he dove off the helicopter, falling towards the ground at breakneck speed.

* * *

'Are we safe now?'

'Yeah.'

Takashi lit a match and turned towards Saeko. His eyes filled with compassion and worry; while escaping from the undead, Takashi and Saeko had been chosen as the last two baits as Yuuki, Rias and Shizuka escaped and joined the rest of the survivors. They lead the undead to a park and used the buggy and the water fountain to distract them for a while. But while escaping from the park; Saeko had met with a group of 'them' that comprised of children. That's where the shit hit the ceiling. Saeko had almost stopped functioning. If not for Takashi's intervention, she would have gotten bit. Even now, Saeko's expression was troubled.

'Saeko-san, what happened?'

Saeko looked up at Takashi, her eyes were empty. All life seemed to have left her. She simply put her arms around Takashi, surprising him. He had never expected his Saeko to be this…fragile. He had never seen this side of hers before. But all he knew was that come what may, he'd protect her to the best of his abilities. They stayed there, huddled in a corner, as Saeko began to cry.

'Saeko, we'll stay here for the night, okay? We'll look for the others tomorrow.

….

Cassano was running.

He jumped over a car, landed, evaded one of 'them' and bashed another in the face with his briefcase. His breath was heavy. But he had Takashi's co-ordinates locked and confirmed. His mental compass was pointing northeast. He just kept running. At this pace, he'd be there in a few hours, at daybreak.

He just hoped that they could hold out that long.

* * *

Takashi sat in the corner, Saeko in his arms. Her breathing had slowed down, she was asleep. He couldn't blame her; it had been a long and tiring day. He looked towards the ceiling of the shrine. Thin rays of light were making their way through the wooden planks that constituted the roof. He had told Saeko that they'd be off at sunrise, but looking at her lithe body clinging to his own, her face lit up by a smile, he couldn't bring himself about to disturb her.

Apparently, he didn't have to do anything. Saeko yawned, got up and rubbed her eyes. She looked so cute that Takashi couldn't help but smile. Saeko looked a little less disturbed as compared to last night. She managed to smile as she kissed him on his cheek. She didn't bother saying anything to him. The kiss said it all.

Takashi got up from his corner and opened the gate of the shrine. And as the doors swung open, he wished he hadn't.

In the few hundred meters that separated the shrine from the gate, there were about thirty of the undead. He was sure that his shotgun would attract more in any case. He gulped; Saeko was still in no mental state to fight. They'd have to make a run for it. But with so many of the undead, would that be possible?

'No, Takashi. Let me fight'

Takashi turned around. Behind him, Saeko stood firm, one hand on the hilt of her sword. Her facial expression reflected resolve. Takashi's, on the other hand, reflected worry. Saeko stepped forward and drew her sword.

'I realized last night that I have things I need to protect, such as you. As long as I have someone to live for, I cannot allow myself to fall prey to something as trivial as death.'

Takashi smiled, HIS Saeko was back. And he took aim with his shotgun as Saeko prepared herself to jump at the undead.

_We'll make it out of here alive, BOTH OF US!_

* * *

Cassano heard a shotgun go off in the distance.

Cassano knew that shotguns always signaled bad news.

Cassano knew that Takashi was the only guy he knew who used a shotgun.

And, Cassano also knew that there were approximately a hundred undead between him and the shrine where the shotgun's sound came from.

Cassano skidded to a halt. He opened his briefcase and drew two a smaller case from within. He opened the case and drew a remarkable sword, complete with a designer cross guard and hilt. He drew the sword from its scabbard; his own death machine, a hand and a half sword.

He smiled as he cut through the undead, gracefully and speedily decapitating any he came across. Cassano's double sword techniques weren't bad, but he was in a different league altogether when he used a single, long blade.

He just hoped he was skilled enough to reach Takashi in time.

* * *

Takashi and Saeko were cornered.

Takashi shot one of the undead at point blank range and retreated to reload as Saeko surged forward; decapitating three of the undead in a single slash. Takashi and Saeko had taken out nigh on fifty of the undead in the last fifteen minutes, yet they just kept coming. There was no end, and Takashi found himself slowly relenting, slowly giving up. But the fact that Saeko was still with him, fighting, gave him courage to keep shooting.

He looked at Saeko, as she brought her sword down in an arc, cutting off an arm. She backed up as one of the undead blundered into her, almost getting a bite of her tender flesh. Takashi finished reloading and let loose a barrage of shots; blowing away around a dozen undead. He fumbled around in his pockets, looking for ammunition.

That's when Saeko slipped.

Takashi watched her slip on a puddle of blood, he watched as she fell. He watched as the undead started closing in on her. He noticed his body move, even though he wasn't thinking. He noticed himself whacking many of the undead on their heads with the butt off his shotgun.

He noticed as the butt of his shotgun got lodged in the bodies of one of the undead.

That's when his senses returned. Saeko had hit her head and passed out. And there were about a dozen undead still surrounding them. And his shotgun was stuck between the ribs of one of the undead.

He was gonna die.

He picked up Saeko's limp body and carried it back till he reached the wall of the Shrine. He waited as the undead got closer, when the first one was almost on him, he stepped forward. Saeko was knocked out, she wasn't making any noise. The undead would kill him and leave. He closed his eyes.

'It ain't your time yet, son.'

Takashi's eyes snapped open; In front of him stood a tall teenager with black, long hair. He wore a black trench coat with a golden border. His eyes were blue and in his right hand was a bloodstained sword.

He heard the noise of a dozen bodies hitting the floor, as the whole group of undead collapsed behind him. The guy straightened out and locked eyes with Takashi.

'Takashi, I presume?' He spoke, in a perfect Japanese accent. Takashi simply nodded.

'And you are?'

The guy smirked, 'Cassano, your savior. Now, where are the others? I have news for them.'

'From who?' Takashi inquired.

Cassano's smirk died out, a frown appeared in its place.

'From Bakyura, ofcourse.'

* * *

**Whew, okay, that really wasn't up to my usual standards. But don't worry. The next one will be better. :D**

**Again, read and review.**

**And there will be a new character in the next chapter. And a plot twist.**

**Stay tuned**

**-CruelRuin**


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